


We Are Family

by frostystuffs



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Family Bonding, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-11
Updated: 2016-09-15
Packaged: 2018-07-22 22:46:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 18
Words: 34,089
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7456831
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/frostystuffs/pseuds/frostystuffs
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A princess, her royal adviser, an escaped Galra prisoner, and a bunch of teenagers. It was always said you couldn't pick your family, and these guys are learning why that's not a completely bad thing.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. We Are Family

**Author's Note:**

> Alright! So, these are really just a bunch of one shots I'm pulling together about the Voltron crew's family moments. I've already got 7 chapters on fanfiction, but I just now got my account here so now I'll also be posting here! I'll post one a day on here until we get up to where we need to be. You guys can give me any sort of prompts or requests if you'd like and I'll get to them ASAP! It'd probably be seen on fanfiction first, though. Anyways, hope you enjoy and have a blessed day!

Time Frame: Just after episode 9

Spoilers: Up to episode 10

Disclaimer: I don't own Voltron: Legendary Defender

•••

Family isn't just blood; it's when you feel as if you're all alone and just a glimpse at the people surrounding you let's you know that everything will be okay. Maybe not now, but eventually.

•••

A handful of mice zipped up and down the bed, looking as if they were all playing tag. Despite the saddened memory going through her mind, Princess Allura let put a small giggle at the joyful creatures. It was a type of light in her darkness, that even though she had lost her home, her family, and practically everything she once knew, that these itty bitty mice could simply make her smile.

"Now, don't you go ripping up my bed spread," she teased them, a smile wide across her lips and a gleam in her eye. "Ms. Amelie made that for me many years ago after Father th-" she cut herself short.

Her father.

Her dead father.

Within a second, her smile fell, her breath left her, and her knees gave out. The once joyful mice stopped their little game and hurriedly jumped from the bed, scurrying over to their crestfallen friend.

The princess bit her tongue to hold in the sob that tried to break through, knowing that though she was suffering, she has no time to grieve. The Galra could strike at any moment, and she need be ready for them. It wasn't healthy, no, not at all; yet, it was the least she could do, seeing as though she wasn't able to help last time, to save her family, she is certain she'll help this time. She wasn't quite sure whether this group of, well... Children, mostly, could be called family. They were acquaintances, yes. Friends, even. But family? Could she ever replace her family with these-these-

'Hush, now!' the woman thought to herself. 'Father wouldn't approve of these thoughts.' Shaking her head to rid her of the awful things running through her mind, she caught a glimpse of the mice all struggling to climb up into her lap. Letting out a breathy chuckle, Allura dried her eyes with the back of her hands then scooped the creatures up into her arms.

"You all are surely the best animal friends a woman like me could ask for." she smiled down at them. Just as she was readying herself to get up, and loud crashing noise sounded for, down the hall. Instantly thinking the worst possible scenario, she dumped the mice onto the bed, rather hastily, and shouted out a small apology as she raced out of her room toward the noise.

•••

"Lance! Pidge told you not to touch that!"

"But it didn't look dangerous!"

"Okay, uh, Lance? How does a rather large pointy thingy not look dangerous?"

"Alright, alright... No need to get all riled up about it! I remember when I was in training there was-"

"Coran, out of all the times we never want to hear those stories, this is definitely contender for the first place."

These were the words that greeted Princess Allura as she entered the room she remembered her green paladin using when fixing up the things around the castle that seemed to catch the small teen's eye. Looking across the room, the woman took note that everyone was here (whether here to begin with or drawn out by the noise, she wasn't quite sure yet) and they all look rather, well... Annoyed, to say the least.

A deep sign to her left tore her from whatever conclusions were beginning to draw together in her mind. The black paladin had a stern look on his face and was looking much like Father did when he was about to discipline her. The princess blinked a few times, pushing the thoughts away. Breakdowns were okay when the paladins couldn't see her, but not when she was right in front of them all. Though, to be quite fair, it seems as if none had noticed her yet.

"What happened here?" Shiro, the black paladin, spoke up after a few seconds of silence. All too quickly (for her taste, anyway) everyone was speaking at the same moment.

"I was working on this-"

"Lance decided to not listen, again-"

"I had nothing to do with anything-"

"I only came when the loud crashed sounded-"

"It looked so cool though! How can you not-"

"Enough!" Shiro shouted. Immediately all eyes were on him. He took a moment to look each one in the eyes before looking back at Pidge. "Would you please tell me what happened here?" He quickly cut his eyes to the rest of the group before Pidge could reply. "Only Pidge tell me." though they didn't look in the least bit happy about this, the other paladins kept their lips sealed as the shortest of the group began the explanation.

"Well, I found this contraption this morning and Coran told me that it was a type of cooking device that had broken down before he and Princess Allura were put under the deep sleep. I asked him if I could work on it, and he said yes, so I had Hunk help me move it down here. After he found out it could make food other than the green glop, he decided to hang around with me. While I've been working on it, Lance showed up because his sparring session was done and he was bored. Keith came in to figure out where we all where since we have to be training together soon."

"When he came in, I remembered that I had to go-" the small teen made a face before continuing. "well, I'd probably confuse you guys by explaining it but I had to go. I made specific instructions to not touch it, because it was pretty unstable, but when I got back I saw Keith trying to keep Lance from touching it and Hunk looking like he was about to. Before I could say anything, Lance got passed Keith and touched it, causing it to fall, make the loud noise, and now I have to start all over." The young girl's shoulders slumped as she finished her story, most likely now realizing all her work was for naught.

"Lance. Hunk." Shiro's voice cut through the few beats of silence after Pidge's explanation. "You both are now going to be able to touch this thing." the princess took note of how it seemed as if everyone's eyes were about to fall out of the holes they were in.

"But!"

"Really?!"

"I thought-"

"How is that-"

"I don't see how-"

"They are going to be touching it," her black paladins voice cut everyone's protests off, "because they will be helping Pidge rebuild it to where it was before they broke it. And if she wants their help afterwards, they will. Though Lance was the one that was able to get his hands on it, Hunk was about to. That all said, Keith and I are going to go train until you all are ready to join us."

Pidge's smile was both that of happiness and a tad of arrogance, while Hunk and Lance looked as if someone has just told them to run laps around the ship. Keith was smirking, though only a bit, while Coran seemed impressed by Shiro's decision. The princess herself was, too, impressed by the leadership the black paladin displayed though she knew it was more than just being a leader. It was being a father.

As everyone went to go do as they were told, Princess Allura realized that she had been smiling the whole time, forgetting completely the saddened thoughts that had plagued her mind just minutes before. 'Father's sayings still helping me, long after he's gone.'

Coran caught her eye across the room and came over, obviously just now noticing her presence. Though she was expecting him to apologize for the racket or the boys, he simply had a gentle smile on his lips.

"Just like a handmade crew, eh?" he asked once close enough, his eyes bright with humor.

"No," she replied a few moments later. The smile on her face grew a bit and the light entered her eyes again as she looked across the room, seeing Shiro and Keith talking to each other as they went off to the training grounds, Pidge giving Lance and Hunk instructions on how to pick the device up without ruining it further. Princess Allura closed her eyes for a moment, the memory of her father explaining the meaning of family to her entering her mind.

"Just like a handmade family."


	2. Best Kinda Medicine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Though I really don't like writing stories that can be completely proven wrong in the next season, I really wanted to write this. I realize that Pidge is a teen, but I think she's a pretty young one. I'm gonna say she gets hit with *womanhood* in space. So yeah, this does mention menstruation (I know that it makes some people uncomfortable). Just be warned. Also, my headcanon is that Lance is from a large Spanish family (whether Mexican, Cuban, or other I'm not quite sure; I thought I had seen it somewhere that he was) so that's why I say what I do in here. AND I DECIDED TO JUST POST ALL THE CHAPTERS TODAY. Thank you guys and have a blessed day!

Time Frame: Year or so post-finale

Spoilers: Up till episode 6

Disclaimer: I don't own Voltron: Legendary Defender

•••

Family is when you push awkwardness and your own self down so you can help a member in need.

•••

Things on the ship has been... Awkward, to say the least, for the passed few days. The ship and her crew had just finished a charity mission when things got all weird. Well, weird for everyone but two people.

The Castle of Lions had been roaming the galaxy looking for those who were in need after being freed from the bondage the Galra had placed on them. It was Princess Allura's idea; checking up on the beings of the universe that are trying to get back into the swing of things before the Galra took over. That meant fighting off straggling Galra ships, providing necessities, and just making sure every thing was okay.

It was a good idea and had been going wonderfully for the passed few months. Allura was happy to be able to see so many happy faces after so much heartache had taken place, the paladins were eager to do whatever was needed of them, and Coran couldn't be happier doing... Well, whatever Coran did.

(Usually it was cleaning up a mess that the paladins made, but if he was happy, all was good.)

Then things changed. Not really "things", but rather Pidge. She was moody, she didn't want to leave her room, she was short with everybody. She hadn't even been tinkering with anything!

The first day, everybody just thought that she was having a bad day and it would pass. Three days later, everyone was worried for the smallest paladin. They had voiced their concerns, too, only to be given a nasty "I'm fine!" or no reply at all.

Some were getting a bit fed up.

•••

"I can't believe she's just ignoring us! If we were acting like her, I'm pretty sure she'd be concerned, too!" Hunk, usually understanding when it came to these things, was letting his worry override his conscience. He took a rather large bite of his glop after he vented his frustrations to the rest of their group in the dining hall where, to no surprise, Pidge had skipped dinner.

"Hunk, I'm sure she has her reasons for being short with as all." the princess spoke calmly. "As her friends, we should trust her enough to know that if something's really wrong, she'll come tell us." Though she didn't want to admit it, Princess Allura herself was a quite worried over her only female friend. But, being the leader she was, pushed that aside to try to reassure the group that was with her.

"Yeah, but she doesn't have to be so mean about it." Hunk grumbled.

"Well, we don't know what's wrong and obviously talking to her about it will just make her mad." Keith spoke up. "Maybe she just needs some space."

"I agree with the princess and Keith. Pushing too hard will just upset her further and I'm pretty sure we've all gotten to the point where we'll come tell someone if they need any help." Shiro said.

Lance pursed his lips from where he was sitting as Hunk sighed dejectedly before murmuring an agreement with the rest of the paladins and crew, save for himself.

The blue paladin was truly proud to say that he came from a large family that consisted of a couple older siblings and cousins. He knew that girls were weird, especially at this age, so he was one that really wasn't too surprised when Pidge's mood went sour.

Though, he had to admit, he was a bit concerned when he noticed that she'd tend to slouch over as she walked. He also was sure he'd seen her grimace a few times, but she was quick to cover it up. That was the second day of Pidge's not-good-ness (as he had called it) and he had thought about it all day until it was time for bed. Coran had told Princess Allura that when he went to check up on her after she quickly scarfed her dinner down and bolted for her room, she was curled up in a ball on her bed, clutching her tummy.

(Lance wasn't supposed to hear that, but how was it his fault they were talking about private matters out in the open?)

As he was readying himself for bed that night, he pushed thoughts about Pidge to the side so he could think a little about his family and say a quick prayer for them. He thought of his mom, dad, grandparents, younger siblings and older, cousins from all around. He let out a small laugh as he remembered a time when he was ten and he tried to copy some of his sister's gymnastics routine then fell right on his butt. He was trying to cheer her up because she had just gotten her peri―

He shot straight up out of bed.

That's it.

That was what was wrong with Pidge.

•••

Since last night, Lance had been trying to think of a way to help his fellow paladin out. He knew that it was a touchy subject and embarrassing, usually, to talk about. After having so many family members go through it, he was used to it. He wasn't quite sure if she would be, but he was gonna try. It wasn't as if she could stop it, anyhow. He couldn't either, but he was sure he would help her anyway he could.

After dinner finished and everyone went their ways, Lance managed to get a few things before heading towards Pidge's room. He remembered what he used to do for his sister and cousins when their time of the month rolled around and hoped that it'll work well enough for Pidge. Well enough that she'll be able to talk to people without wanting to kill them, at least.

He hoped.

"Knock, knock?" the blue paladin said as he knocked on the door. A muffled, "Go away." was his reply.

"Pidge, it'll just be a second and I'm pretty sure it'll help you feel better." deciding last minute that adding a sarcastic reply will most likely be returned with an angry young lady rather than a joyous one, he opted against it.

There was some noise behind the door before it slid open, revealing a not-too-happy Pidge that looked like she'd much rather just sleep for a few years than speak to anybody.

"I'm only doing this because maybe if you see that you can't fix me, you'll leave me alone." She didn't yell or sound sarcastic, mainly just tired and worn. He felt bad for her. The Lord knows he certainly wouldn't be able to handle that every stinkin' month. The blue paladin wanted to shiver at the thought of it.

Instead of doing that, he put on the largest grin he could and puffed out his chest, where all the things he had gathered were currently being held up. "I'm not gonna even try!" was his answer as he walked passed her into the room, noting how it was in complete disarray.

"Wha—?" she watched him, more confused than anything. After the constant doting on by the rest of the guys, claiming that they'll be able to help her out, this was a bit new.

"Lay down on your back." Lance commanded. He began to unload all he had onto a relatively open area on the floor. Pidge looked as if she was about to protest before Lance just held up a hand and said, "I've done this before, I know what I'm doing. Just lay back and relax."

She didn't look too happy about it, but the small girl did as she was told. Relaxing sounded a pretty good right now, not that she'd admit it. She went to pull up her blanket but Lance stopped her. Pidge quirked an eyebrow before rolling her eyes and dropping the green material. The boy knew she was none to happy with him right now, but hopefully she would be soon.

Hopefully.

He pulled out the ice pack he had found on board, usually used in its frozen state, with the small heater on top of it. He was pretty sure that it was more than just a heater but as of right now, that's what it was going to be used for. He had the small device running all the way there so that the pack was nice and warm. As gently as he could, and with two quite curious eyes on him, he placed the pack right at the bottom of her belly.

Pidge's content sigh was all he needed to know that he wasn't going to be kicked out. "Come from a big fam, remember? There are girls older than me in it. This isn't new to me." was her answer when she cast him a questioning glance.

Silently, he did the rest that he had planned: propped her up the right way, covered her up with two blankets, and made her drink the new tea-like drink they had picked up not too long ago. He also started telling her some stories of his family, hoping that maybe it'll ease her to sleep.

Pidge was content and feeling better than she had in a few days, but just as Lance said, the pain wasn't completely gone.

She was okay with that, though.

Lance was trying and her pain was at least bearable. She wasn't in a great mood, but she was better.

•••

Shiro smiled as he passed by the green paladin's room. He had stuck around to see what Lance had planned (the boy wasn't very subtle—Shiro could tell throughout dinner that something was bugging him) and was going to make sure he stopped the blue paladin in case the prankster was going to do something stupid.

He was very, very pleased to see that not only was it not stupid, but it was very kind.

Shiro had an idea as to why Pidge was acting up not too long after it started. He may not have had the large family Lance did, but he did know that Pidge was going to get drafted into womanhood at some point; he was actually quite surprised it was this long.

Instead of going in and reminding them that it was almost curfew, he let them be.

Sometimes the best kind of medicine for this is just some plain old big-brother bonding time.


	3. Love Ya Like A Toothache

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is based on my relationship with my siblings and I'm sure there's many people that can relate. Hope you enjoy and have a blessed day!

Time Frame: Between episode 5 and 6

Spoilers: Up till episode 5

Disclaimer: I don't own Voltron: Legendary Defender

•••

Family is willing to kill for them one minute then willing to kill them the next.

•••

"You did that on purpose!"

"Maybe I did! Sometimes you need to get knocked down a few pegs and if that means being literally knocked down, then that's all good with me!"

Everyone on the ship groaned as the blue and red paladins continued to yell at each other. Even the mice seemed to be frustrated at this point.

"Guys," Hunk tried to speak over the intercom thing-y (it probably wasn't called that in Altean, but that was something Pidge could worry about), hopefully to get his friends to see some reason and stop the petty arguement.

He was completely ignored.

Pidge merely rolled her eyes and continued to tap away at her laptop, finally to the point where she was ignoring Keith and Lance altogether. Princess Allura was standing back silently, though her face was easily showing that she was so very done with dealing with her two paladins' fighting. Coran had busied himself with going over the control panels (though he knew they were fine) with slumped shoulders and a very annoyed expression. Hunk was slouched against the wall, his head hung back to show that he had given up trying to stop his fighting friends. Shiro held his head in his flesh arm, having decided to let the boys argue it out in hopes of them seeing that it was a completely ridiculous fight, apologize, and move on.

Sadly, his plan that wasn't working.

It was just supposed to be a small training session to build up reflexes and then they'd be able to rest until they reached the Balmara, saving up the energy they were definitely going to need. Everything was going fine; they had each other's backs, they were ducking and jumping through everything coming their way, and overall, the team was working well together.

That was until the stimulator let loose a flying disc which Lance went to avoid and in doing so, the flying object hit Keith right in the back of the knees, causing him to fall down and the exercise to be over.

(It technically hadn't been over, but when Keith started yelling, Coran shut it down because he knew there wouldn't be anymore progress.)

The two had stood there, yelling at each other, for about 10 earth minutes now. The rest of the paladins had went up to the viewing deck, partly to go over some plans with the princess for when they reached their destination, and partly to get away from the noise. They had left the bickering duo by themselves in the training area.

The argument had yet to let up. In fact, it seemed to be getting even worst.

"Okay, I'm going to go to somewhere a bit quiter so I can finish this coding." Pidge said as she stood from her spot on the floor. She closed her laptop and tucked it under her arm before casting a very fed-up look down to the boys. "Come and get me if we redo the exercise or if one of them kills the other."

"I think I'll go, too. No use hanging around to watch people fight unless it's WWE." the yellow paladin decided. Coran and Allura both quirked curious eyebrows, eyes going from annoyed to exciting (Coran) and shocked (Allura).

"What's WWE? People fight just for people to watch?" the Altean man seemed to be a bit too excited as he followed Hunk out of the room. The princess and her black paladin could hear their conversation as they went down the hall, voices loud and merry.

"Do I even want to know about that?" Allura asked hesitantly.

"Not really." was the reply she got. She made a noise of confirmation and turned her gaze back onto the boys, still going at it. She let out a small sigh at the sight.

"We should stop them now, don't you suppose?" she asked, not really waiting for a response as she went to go turn on the voice over. She was quite surprised when a hand was placed over the button, ceasing her from being able to try to break up the fight.

Shiro had a smirk and a mischievous gleam in his eye, one she had to admit was a bit unlike his usual demeanor. What he said next made her smile in excitement.

"No, I have an idea."

•••

"You're supposed to at least give me a heads up!"

"Well, that would have been stupid because it was going for your legs, not your head."

"You—you—!" Keith groaned. Here he was, stuck saving the universe with this idiot. Sometimes he didn't think the freedom of every living being was worth it.

Now was one of those times.

"What, blue cat got your tongue?" Lance smirked, arms crossed over his chest. This arrogant pose just made Keith even angrier.

"That—!"

The teen was cut off by a door sliding open. Out stepped a robot, one like what they faced for their first time in the training room. Allura's voice come from above as the robot took stance.

"Alright, paladins! We're going to put you through a two-team combat exercise. The only way to defeat this monster is to work together!" her voice was a bit too cheery. Before they could even get a say in, Shiro spoke.

"We're a team, guys; all of us. We can't go chose anyone else. That means you're stuck with who's here and if you don't like it, you're going to have to get over it. Breaking into a fight mid battle with the Galra could mean the life and death of someone. You're gonna have to put your differences aside and accept that the team that's here is the one you have, and we're not getting a new one."

And with that, the battle was on.

•••

Quite a few Altean ticks later, the boys were back-to-back, sweating and out of breath.

"That things was at like, level 3000." Lance moaned out, slipping from against Keith's back to the floor. For the first time probably since they boarded the ship, the red paladin didn't argue or try to protest his blue teammate's words. Instead, he pulled his knees to his chest and rested his head on them.

"What we get for fighting." he mumbled out shortly afterwards. Lance sighed, knowing he was right.

"Hey, think you can teach me that sliding move you did?" Lance suddenly jumped up, startling Keith (he'd never admit that, though). "It was epic, dude!"

The teen let out a small, yet genuine smile, as he rose to his feet. "Sure. But," he paused, halting Lance's victory cheer. "Only if you teach me how you were able to jump passed the robot so quickly." he finished with a smirk.

Lance seemed to contemplate this for a moment, hand on his chin and lips puckered. Keith almost thought he was about to say no but then a wide smile came across his face and he thrust out his hand. "Deal!"

Keith looked from Lance's hand, to his face, then back to his hand before taking it and shaking, a smirk on his lips. "Deal."

"You know, Keith? I love ya." the red paladin's eyes went wide as Lance slung his arms around the shorter boy's shoulders. "Love ya just like a toothache."

"What does that even mean?"

"... Dude, did you live under a rock?"

•••

"It truly amazes me how they can go from seemingly hating each other to being best friends in a moments notice." Princess Allura commented as she watched her paladins exit the training area. Shiro chuckled behind her, a fond smile on his lips.

"That's called having a sibling."


	4. Might As Well Have A Cell Buddy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I realized I had a lack of Hunk on here so hopefully this will make up for it. I have a headcanon that Lance would pull Hunk into all kids of trouble at the Garrison, this being one of those times. Hope you enjoy this and have a blessed day!

Time Frame: Pre season one

Spoilers: Not even all of episode one

Disclaimer: I don't own Voltron: Legendary Defender

•••

Family is having fun and breaking a few rules then taking each other's backs when they get caught.

•••

Hunk was pretty sure that Lance was going to one day be in jail.

Like, not just the small town, really chill jail where they can watch tv and play card games; like―actual prison. Where there's murders and gangs and chains around their ankles and they have to dig holes outside in hundred degree heat.

Because the dude was able to talk him into sneaking out passed curfew to just 'see what's around'. Couple reasons why this small rule break will lead to eventual imprisonment:

One: Lance was able to talk Hunk, the nice rule abiding guy that he is, into sneaking out after curfew with no leverage like blackmail or anything hanging over his head. Just a lot of smooth talking. Being able to smooth talk like that obviously means the kid's gonna grow up to be a con artist or something awful like that.

Two: Lance's only reason for sneaking out is to look around. Can't he do that tomorrow? When it's light out and he can see and he can look around with actual people (not just in a really dark, abandoned hallway) and, ya know... When they won't get into trouble?!

So, yeah. That's exactly why Lance is going to be in jail some day. And unfortunately, as the way things are going right now, Hunk's gonna be right there with him.

No more lazy days watching tv, no more yummy food that―

"Hunk!" Lance's whisper-shout cut through the larger teen's thoughts. "Get lower!"

With a panicked intake of breath, the boy all but dropped to the ground. This earned him an eye roll. "I told you that I wasn't good at breaking rules!" Hunk's eyes frantically scanned the hallway, looking for any peers that would catch him out when he shouldn't be.

(As if anyone would be stupid enough to break curfew like they were. Hopefully no one was as stupid as they were. Hopefully.)

"Hush!" Lance continued in the same tone as before, raising a finger to his lips for emphasis. "And stop getting all worried! We're just going down to the arcade, then we're coming right back up. No one will ever know we ever escaped!" he was way to happy about this. Like, way too happy. Breaking rules must be some kind of drug for him; sorta like grandma's cake was for him.

"'Escaped'? Did you really just say 'escaped'?" Hunk lowered his voice to match Lance's. "You make it sound like they force us to stay here! We chose to come here, remember? So why are you acting like you wanna leave?" his friend's sigh was a bit over dramatic and a bit annoyed, but he didn't care. If the dude was gonna drag him into trouble, might as well make of as unpleasant as he possibly could.

"I didn't mean it like that." yeah, he was totally annoyed. "It was just a figure of speech, ya know? Like, "Haha! Funny!" type thing." Hunk was really expecting more from his trouble-making buddy, but Lance didn't say anything else. Instead, he continued on their trek down the hall, Hunk trailing behind slowly and jumping about a foot in the air when any kind of noise was made.

Lance would have laughed out loud at the giant teen—looking much like a frightened goat hiding from a chupacabra—if it was daylight.

So he simply chuckled under his breath and continued on his mission.

•••

They reached the arcade not too long after, seeing as though this wing of the Garrison was completely rid of all personal after midnight. It wasn't as big as some that Lance had seen back at the beach, but it wasn't small either. It was only a little something the students could have fun at on their days off.

Lance was about as chill as could be, walking around and checking things out as if he was shopping for them.

Hunk, on the other hand, was about as chill as boiling water. He wasn't even trying to hide that fact at this point.

"This is breaking at least four rules, dude." Lance merely rolled his eyes in response. "Seriously, this isn't gonna be as cool as it is now when we're in detention."

After about five minutes of Hunk's worried and panicked ramblings, Lance stopped in front of an old-looking arcade game that had weird spaceships and neon lights on the sides. His jaw practically hit the floor.

"Hunk!" the teen's head snapped up from where he was staring at the door, just waiting for someone to come bursting through. "This is Space Battle 12000! This game was my favorite back at home!" it looked like someone had given the kid a million bucks and all the permission in the world to spend it.

"Okay! Cool! Great, you can play it tomorrow!" Hunk pretty much ran over to where Lance was standing. "Now that we've walked around and everything, can we go back?" he was begging at this point.

Forget dignity.

"What?" Lance looked rather insulted that Hunk even considered that he'd go back to the dorms when he was standing in front of his favorite game in the entire world.

"Absolutely not! I can't go back knowing that this is here! How can you— dude, I have to play a round. Just one. At least." before the larger teen could even try to fight him, he dug deep into his pockets and pulled out some quarters. "Come on, Hunk! It's a two player game. It even shows you how to play before getting into it."

"No! I just wanna go back to the dorms. We've looked around and now we're done." Lance could tell by his facial expression that he wasn't joking around. He signed.

"Okay, if I promise to go right back after this game, will you play?"

He seemed to consider it for a bit, but Lance knew he had won when a gloved hand took the second player's joystick.

Maybe he was smiling a lot like a criminal, but he didn't care. The coins in and the game alive, the two forgot everything and went at it.

•••

One game turned into three, then three into six, then six into ten. Hunk had completely let go of whatever issues he had with sneaking out and was bent on making sure that Lance didn't win for the fourth time in a row.

His hopes were crushed when the screen lit up saying, "Winner! Winner! 'Cadet Awesomeness' takes the conquered the ship!"

"That's so not fair! I was in the lead almost the entire game!"

"Yeah, but 'almost' only matters in horseshoes and... and whatever the other game is."

Hunk was about to retaliate when the lights went on and his brain short-circuited.

"What are you two doing down here? Curfew was four hours ago!" a middle-aged security guard bellowed out as he stomped over to the two nervous teens. "You know you could be put on suspension for this?"

Hunk gulped and he heard Lance do the same. They both glanced at each other before Lance took a deep breath and spoke, "Sorry, sir. This is entirely―"

"A bad case of homesickness." Lance's eyes went wide and he was sure his heart quit for a few seconds. "You see, my friend here is really missing home and since this is a game from where he grew up, we just wanted to get a few games in because the arcade will probably be overrun by the other students tomorrow before we can get here."

The man seemed to be considering Hunk's explanation while the teens tried to keep their hearts from beating out of their chests.

"Fine. I'll let you off with a warning and escort you back to the dorms. But," he paused and pointed a finger at them bother, causing them to flinch, "if I catch either of you out here again, you'll go straight to your captain! Am I clear?" the two nodded so eagerly it looked like their heads were about to fall off. "Good. Now follow me."

The walk back was quiet and tension filled. Once they reached the dorm room, the security guard watched them go in then waited a second at the entryway before turning and going down the hall.  
Both teens let out audible sighs of relief.

"Thank you," Lance spoke up not too long after they climbed into their beds. "for saving my butt back there."

Hunk smiled, though his friend wouldn't be able to see it in the dark lighting. "Well, I figured that if you ever do end up going to jail for breaking too many rules―" Lance made a noise of protest, "you might as well have a cell buddy."


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Why not have the whole family together for this one, eh? Hope you enjoy and have a blessed day!

Time Frame: Post-season one

Spoilers: a bit from episode four

Disclaimer: I don't own Voltron: Legendary Defender

•••

Family is coming together as a whole to make a certain member's day amazing.

•••

Today was Princess Allura's birthday.

The Alteans had their own traditions and what it was they did, but it was clear from the moment the paladins heard about the importance of the day, that this was going to be done their way. And to think, the day had seemed so innocent and ordinary before the news was spilled during breakfast.

Lance looked as radiant and smug as ever, waltzing in the dining hall like he owned the place. Keith followed behind, rolling eyes and shoving passed him. He knew that Lance wouldn't like that. The reaction was immediate and the two began to bicker to entire way to their seats, though sitting down didn't slow the fight any.

Pidge was next, carrying a laptop that was plucked from her hands before she completely passed through the doorway. With an amused grin, Shiro stood above her, laptop in hand, and ignored the pout he was getting. "After breakfast." was all he said and the green paladin sulked over to her seat. He shook his head and went to his, but not before whacking the red and blue paladin on the back of the head to silence their argument. They grumbled a bit, but did go quiet.

Hunk and Coran emerged soon afterwards, carrying everyone's meals.

Everyone's but Allura's.

Most of the humans began their meal not even a minute after it was set in front of them and the table came to life. Lance talking with his mouth full about what he wanted to do that day, Keith just trying to get the meal over with and dodging whatever Lance was spitting out, Pidge eating quickly so she could get her laptop back but giving a word or two in about why no, Lance, that would not be a good thing to do, and Hunk eating silently because really, food was the best part of any day and he wasn't gonna waste his favorite time by arguing with his teammates.

Shiro didn't, however, dig in or add any commentary; and Coran took note of this as he sat down to eat with the group.

"I thought we've already been through this, Shiro. I know it's not your earth food, but it's not too bad." said the man in mock offense. He was expecting a laugh in return, or maybe some snide comment, but he just got a curious look and a question.

"Where's Allura?"

This caused the whole room to quiet and turn their attention to Coran, now aware of the missing princess.

He frowned for a couple ticks, obviously thinking, before letting out a laugh. "Oh! We must have forgotten to tell you all. Today is the day we celebrate the princess' birth." everyone's eyes went wide and a few 'what?'s were heard, as well as a 'how in the world do you forget to tell people that it's your birthday?'

He didn't really pay any mind to the paladins' bewildered faces. "I made her favorite meal this morning and brought it to her so she could stay in bed a bit longer." Shiro nodded, though he seemed to be in thought.

"Wait, guys!" everyone turned their attention to a very happy-looking Hunk, "You know this means we have to throw her a birthday party, right?"

"And play games and get her presents!"

"That's usually what you do at a party, Lance."

Pidge only receive a stuck out tongue in response. She ignored it.

"What kind of presents are we supposed to get her in space?" Keith, being the voice of reason, spoke up. "It's not like we can just go to any planet and buy something. We don't even have any money, and we don't know what kind of money these planets even take."

The room grew quiet, realizing that Keith was right.

"You guys could always make her something." every head snapped towards Shiro. He smiled at them before continuing, "My parents always liked having handmade gifts more than bought one's, anyway. I think that if we're going to be throwing her a human-style party, we should make them." The paladins' faces lit up, each already forming a sort of idea for what they were going to make for the princess.

"Okay, what about actually throwing the party though? How are we going to do that?"

"Well, dear red paladin, we did used to throw some pretty extravagant parties on this ship. I don't know much about the lot of you are taking about doing, but I'll be happy to show you guys whatever it is you'd need to throw this party you want to."

Lance jumped at this. "Yes! Yes, Coran, that's fantastic. Okay, so, how about I go with Coran to help pick out the decorations for the princess' party?"

"That sounds alright but I'm coming with you. I'm not gonna let you go use this to your advantage and make it too big—we don't want to make her have a heart attack when she walks in." Shiro said, obviously displeasing to Lance but he didn't argue.

"I agree with Shiro. This is probably her first real human-type birthday party, but I think too much will overwhelm her." Pidge spoke up. "We should just have it here, in the dining hall. I mean, that's how we did it in our family. Just a small get-together with close friends and family, dinner, presents, and a couple games."

"Yeah! It'll be small and cute!" Hunk's smile was about as wide as it could get." Handmade gifts and everything! It'll be just like back home on earth. I'll even try to cook something nice up!" the overjoyed looking teen turned to Coran. "Do you think you'd be able to help me after you get done with Lance and Shiro?"

"Absolutely! I've known Princess Allura since she was a baby, I'll teach you how to all of her favorite foods." as the Altean spoke, he seemed to be getting even more excited. "I have no idea what all we're going to be doing but I certainly am looking forward to it!" the group smiled, some chuckling a bit, at his eagerness.

"Alright, so we have a plan. Coran, Lance, and I will go get the decoration and bring them back here. While we're doing that, Hunk, Pidge, and Keith can make Allura her presents. When we get back, Hunk and Coran can get to making the food, Lance and I will go make our gifts for the princess, and Pidge can get started with getting the decorations. When we're all finished, we can meet up here and put the finishing touches on. Keith can keep the princess occupied while we're all doing this. Sound good?" everyone nodded. "Alright, then let's get finished so we can get to it."

The room once again became alive with chatter, now everyone talking about what they'll try to make the princess and what it was that they should do as far as games went.

"We should play pin the tail on the donkey."

"With what donkey?"

"I don't know, you seem to be a good one most of the time."

"For the sake of it being Allura's birthday, I'll wait till tomorrow to retaliate."

"I can try to make her a pet bot or something! I'm sure I'll be able to find enough parts for that. Think she'd like that?"

"I wanna make her a sweater. Hey! Don't look at me like that. It's a manly thing to knit, my abuelita even said to. And she never lies."

"A surprise party! In space! How cool can this even be?!"

They all eventually finished their meal and put the dishes away before splitting up and putting their plan in action.

All oblivious to the pastel colored mouse that zipped out of the opposite side of the room.

•••

Princess Allura let out a delighted chuckle as the little creature told her everything it had heard. "Well then, I guess I'll have to act surprised then. They sure are excited about this." she giggled when the mouse let out a few more squeaks before sticking a pose that resembled that of an over-excited child. "Well, if even Coran is excited about this human-style surprise party, I shall be, too."

And when Keith came not too long afterwards, asking for help with the training room, she decided to play along with it. He may have asked her about the large smile she had once or twice, but she would just shake her head.

The best present she could ever ask for was already her's—a great family.


	6. A Mother's Love

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think that an Allura/Pidge bonding moment is needed because really, they're two girls stuck in space with a bunch of dudes (the majority of them teens). If you guys have any other prompts for me, leave them in a review and I'll try to get to them ASAP! Hope you enjoy and have a blessed day!

Time Frame: Between episodes 6 and 7

Spoilers: Up to episode 6 (since I don't mention anything in episode 7)

Disclaimer: I don't own Voltron: Legendary Defender

•••

Family is crying your heart out on someone's shoulder then sharing stories until the tears are all dried up.

•••

Princess Allura was standing in the front of the control room when she heard a noise down the hall. On instinct, she went into defensive mode just in case there was a Galra soldier lurking around. She had been sure that all of them were gone, but this was indeed a large ship. The possibility that one had been hiding where Coran, the paladins, and herself couldn't find them is quite possible.

So she left what she had been doing still up and running and started on down the hallway. The Altean didn't get too far when a familiar voice cut through the silence. Though it was a whisper, it was late enough and quiet enough for it to have been heard as a yell.

"Dang it!"

The princess picked up her speed, running on the tips of her toes in order to stay quiet. She was relieved that it wasn't a soldier but one of her own paladins. It didn't completely erase her worry, however, because no one should be up this late.

She rounded the corner to find Pidge sitting crisscross I'm front of a small rectangular device, wires coming out of the side and a screwdriver laying not far away. The paladin herself had her thumb in her mouth, a frown on her face and glaring at the small device as if it had done something atrocious to her.

"Pidge?" Allura spoke softly, trying not to startle the young girl. Her attempt was proven futile as the said girl spun around so quickly she must have been able to give herself whiplash.

"Prin—!" Pidge went to yell but stopped herself short, most likely remembering the other people on the ship who were all asleep. The hand that was in her mouth went behind her, looking like she was trying to hide it. "I, uh, I didn't wake you up, did I?" she asked with a nervous chuckle, a hand going back to scratch the back of her head and a bit of concern in her eyes.

"Oh, no. I was already up." the princess spoke as she walked over to her green paladin. "I was making sure we were on the correct course. But you, my dear," she paused, a small smile coming onto her lips, "should be asleep. I'm sure Shiro would have carted you back to bed if he found you in here tinkering with more of these devices."

Pidge let out a tiny laugh, resituating herself into the position she was in when Allura found her. "Yeah, probably." was all she said, however. This made Allura frown before she sat down next to the small girl. The princess could tell that something was wrong, and she wasn't going to leave unless she found out.

After a few moments of silence (and hoping that Pidge would open up to her), the Altean took the first step. "What's kept you up so late?" her voice was soft and comforting, so much unlike what the teen was used to hearing these days. It sounded so kind, and nurturing...

It sounded like her mother's.

Tears entered her eyes before she could stop them, and she turned away from Allura completely. She furiously rubbed at her eyes, hoping that any evidence of tears would vanish.

Too bad Allura had already seen them.

"Pidge? Pidge, what's wrong?" a strong yet gentle hand rested on her shoulders and it was all suddenly too much for her. The girl burst into tears, trying to curl herself into a ball but Allura wouldn't have it. She may not have known much about humans, but she did know that if someone was crying, they needed to be comforted.

It was rather difficult, but the princess manage to pull the tiny girl out of the ball and into her lap. As soon as that happened, Pidge's arms shot up and around Allura's neck and her legs circled around the woman's waist. Allura was a bit shocked at first but all of it went away as she felt the girl silently sob against her chest. The princess' arms wound around her paladin's back, rubbing soothing circles as she spoke kind words into the young girl's ears. It was so much like what a mother would do that, unknowingly to the princess, was the reason Pidge began to cry even more and even louder.

Whether they sat there for minutes or hours, Allura didn't know. She didn't try to pry the small girl off, she didn't complain about wanting to go to sleep. She didn't move when her legs went to sleep nor did she stop rubbing her paladin's back when her arms began to ache. She still wasn't sure what was wrong, but she did know that the girl had a reason breaking down like this and she wasn't about to throw her off when she was in need of some comforting.

"I miss her." the words woke the princess out of her half-awake state, causing her to jump a bit and tighten her hold on Pidge.

"Miss who?" came the princess' question after a tick.

"My mom." the green paladin shifted a bit so that she was now looking at Allura. "That's why I was up. I've been trying to make some sort of device to be able to contact the people at home. I know that Lance misses his big family, and Hunk really misses his... And, and—" her breath caught in her throat before she could finish.

"Hush, now," Allura pulled the girl closer to herself, hugging her tightly. She instantly regretting even asking. "You don't have to explain it to me."

"But I do!" Pidge tried to pull away but the princess' grip was too strong. "I do, Allura! I've already lied enough, I need to be able to tell you guys these things. We're all a team. I should be able to say this stuff by now!" her voice rose from the whisper it had been to what would be considered a regular tone, but with the high ceilings, it jumped back at the duo to make it sound even louder.

"Okay then, go ahead and tell me." her voice remained calm and kind, though the girl had pretty much just yelled at her. It was amazing how someone who never even met her mother could act like the woman so very much.

"I miss my mom. First, she found out that Dad and Matt were dead. I didn't believe it, but my mom did. Then, I just—I left her! I left her all alone to go to the Garrison and find out what happened to my family, I never even thought about how the family I knew were alive would react!" as she rambled on, talking about how she should have spoken to her mom, should have explained what she was doing, Allura was silent through the matter. If being able to talk was what her paladin needed, she'd be fine to lend an ear.

"She deserves a better daughter than me." Pidge finished with a sniffle.

Allura's eyes went wide and she jerked back, pulling Pidge away enough to look her in the eye. This, of course, scared the heck out of the girl. The green paladin sat rim-rod straight as the Altean took her chin in her hands and spoke softly, yet at the same time, with power.

"Listen to me: You are not a bad daughter because you wanted to find out where your family was—In fact, that makes you an excellent daughter. Yes, you should have warned your mother, but how proud do you think she'd be to find out that her little girl was able to outsmart the entire Garrison to get in and also the find out about Voltron? How proud would she be to know that her daughter was now a pilot of a spacecraft thought to have been a myth? You may have made some mistakes, but you certainly are not a bad daughter."

Pidge looked down at her hands, her fingers ghosting over the small burn she received earlier while trying to get the wires right on the device. She had no reply to Allura, still trying to figure her own thoughts out.

"I think your mother deserved you very much so, and I'll be sure to tell her that whenever it is that I meet her."

The green paladin chuckled. "You might have to wait until she wakes up. I'm pretty sure that five giant robot lions, her dead family back, and two aliens might be a little too much for her to take in one sitting. She'd definitely faint." Allura smiled at this, just happy that her paladin was doing better.

After a few ticks of silence, Pidge spoke again. "You're a lot like my mom, really. I think that's why I'm missing her so much—because it's like I'm still with her. Except, ya know," she laughed, "you can kick alien butt."

"Would it make you feel better?" Allura asked after she finished laughing herself. At the girl's questioning look, she specified, "Would it make you feel better to tell me about your mother? How we're alike?"

Pidge's eyes lighting up was all the answer she needed.

•••

When Coran found the two curled up around each other in the morning, sound asleep with smiles on their faces, he knew better than to wake them. Instead, he brought down a blanket and some pillows and arranged them so that the ladies wouldn't have too much of a kink in their necks when they did awake.

He did make sure to call the room off limits to everyone, claiming that there was an uncontrolable force in there that shouldn't be messed with just yet.

Which, honestly, wasn't a lie.

Maybe they weren't blood, but a mother and daughter's love could bring down even the strongest of Galra ships.


	7. Space Dad

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is a sent-in prompt. Still taking prompts/requests if you have any! But please be mindful that I'm trying to stay as close to canon as I can get when you send those in. The saying was a bit tricky for me, but I hope it wasn't terrible. Hope you enjoy and have a blessed day!

Time Frame: Ranging from episode 4 to episode 9

Spoilers: Up to episode 9

Disclaimer: I don't own Voltron: Legendary Defender

•••

Family is calling someone 'dad' because of a half coherent slip-up that ends up being so much more than a joke told at breakfast in the morning

•••

"Lance."

An incomprehensible mumble came from under the teen's pillow. Shiro sighed.

"Lance, breakfast ended an hour ago. You need to get up."

Another mumble, though this one said, "Go away." it was a bit slurred, but able to understand.

"I'm not leaving this doorway until you get out of bed." to prove his point, the black paladin crossed his arms and leaned against the frame. "We all have training in an hour and that includes you. Either you can get up right now, or I'll have to do something extreme."

Shiro couldn't hear it because of the pillow Lance's head was stuffed under, but he had scoffed. What 'extreme' measures? Threaten him with hallow words? Tell him that he couldn't go to sleep in his bed anymore?

He scoffed again; as if Shiro would do anything extreme.

After a few ticks, Lance thought he had won this round. Shiro wasn't still telling him to get up and that was enough of a victory in his eyes. Though he hadn't heard his leader leave, he chalked it up to having silent footsteps. The teen wiggled a bit in his bed before finally getting into a more comfortable position, and slowly began to nod back off.

That was until he was lifted into the air.

"Wha—Shiro!" his voice was incredibly groggy and his eyes were open, but everything was blurry.

"I warned you, Lance." Shiro said, trying his best to keep a stern face. It was pretty difficult since he had a kid about his height slung over his shoulder and the said kid was making some pretty amusing sounds of protest.

Lance was probably trying to actually say something, but he was obviously not awake enough yet.

"—peas put down!" the black paladin had to bite his tongue to keep from laughing out loud . Not only was his speech way off, but Lance was whining, too. He sounded just like a baby.

"If I put you down, will you get ready and come eat your breakfast?"

"Umhm.."

"I can't hear you."

"Yeah.."

"Still can't hear you."

"Yes! Fine, dad!"

Shiro's eyes went wide and his grip loosened. To the point tat he almost dropped Lance, which woke his teammate up considerably.

"Whoa! Whoa, Shiro!" the teen's eyes went wide and he held onto Shiro's shoulders for dear life. "Whoa, wait... Why am I on your back? What's going on? Why am I not asleep?"

Having been knocked out of his daze by the blue paladin's frantic movements, Shiro looked (the best he could) over to Lance. "I tried to get you up after you decided to sleep through breakfast." he practically tore the teen off of his body. "You better go and eat, we've got training in about 30 minutes."

As he walked down the hallway, Shiro pushed his jumbled thoughts to the side. Lance probably only called him that because maybe what Shiro did could have been something the teen's father on earth did to him when he didn't get up.

Yeah, that had to be it.

•••

Shiro couldn't keep the smile off his face as he surveyed the scene before him. This was something he could see Pidge doing; staying up late and working on something then falling asleep in a very weird, and most likely uncomfortable, position.

But Hunk? Not really.

Yet, here he was.

There were Altean recipe books spread across the entire counter in the kitchen area and a different type of cooking utensil every few inches. There was a pen (maybe it was called a pen? It was Altean, so maybe not... But that was something to focus on later) and a notebook opened in front of the boy, scribbles covering the entire page. It was too much of a squeeze for Shiro to even try to read at this late hour. Hunk himself was laying mostly on the counter, using a rather large book as a pillow and only his feet dangling off.

It would have been hilarious for any other occasion, but not when they were on their way to an important mission.

"Hey, Hunk?" Shiro spoke softly yet firmly, trying to wake him without scaring him.

But it did nothing.

Not even a difference in breath intake.

"Hunk?" Shiro tried again, this time a bit more forcefully.

Hunk turned, now facing the black paladin. Said paladin was hoping that his fellow teammate's eyes would open, but that didn't happen.

With a shake of the head and a smile tugging at his lips, Shiro went over to the counter and gently pushed on Hunk's arm. "Hunk, you've gotta get up." he spoke in a normal tone, hopefully enough to rouse the yellow paladin.

His actions appeared to have worked as the tan teen's eyes opened and blinked a few times, most likely getting used to the light.

"Hey there, welcome back to the land of the living." Shiro chuckled as he watched Hunk get up. His body moved slowly and eyes blinked lazily, but at least he was getting up.

"What's happenin'?" his voice was rather gruff with sleep, too.

"I don't really know, to be honest." the older of the two chuckled once more. "I found you here on my way to bed. I guess you were trying to cook something and fell asleep right in the middle of it." he determined that maybe adding 'literally' may not have been the best idea at this moment.

Though, it would have been funny.

Hunk rubbed at his eyes, trying to get rid of the sleepers that had gathered. His head drooped down and he looked around at his mess, then back at Shiro. He was still not completely awake, but he did manage to cast his leader a sheepish look. "Oops."

"It's okay," Shiro smiled reassuringly, "we can clean this up tomorrow. Just head on to bed for right now, okay?" he patted the yellow paladin on the back as he stood.

"Alright." he mubled as he started to the door. "Night, dad."

Shiro went rigid, remembering the instance not too long ago when Lance called him that name, too.

Maybe they were playing a prank on him? There was absolutely no way they could see him as a father...

Could they?

•••

Shiro really wanted to be able to say that he was surprised. Not only for his own sake, but Pidge's as well.

Unfortunately, finding her asleep with a laptop half open on her stomach and curled so tightly in a cabinet underneath the training room's control panel that not even one of Princess Allura's mice could fit in wasn't a surprise in the slightest.

Okay, so maybe it was a new place, but it certainly wasn't surprising.

That didn't keep him from wondering how in the 8 planets she got there, though.

The leader didn't even bother with trying to get her up, knowing full well that she probably would wake up and try to go right back to what she had been up to before she fell asleep. So, instead, he gently picked the device up from her stomach and shut it off before quietly placing it on top of the control panel. Next, he slid his arms underneath her knees and pulled her into his chest, careful to make sure neither of her arms were in the way or any fingers got caught on anything. After seeing all was well, he stood up, cradling her, and shut the cabinet door with his foot.

They had made it half way to her room before she began to stir.

It was actually farther than he had gotten the last time.

(Finding Pidge asleep in an odd place was normal for everyone on this ship, not just Shiro alone. Though, if he was being quite honest with himself and everybody else, he was probably the one who found her the most.)

"Who's this?" she spoke not too long afterwards. She, too, was well aware of the fact that she could be found passed out anywhere on the ship. What she hadn't gotten down yet was being able to tell who had found her.

"It's me." Shiro smiled down at the green paladin just as she turned her head to look up at him.

She blinked once, then twice. Then she asked, "Shiro?"

"Yes, it's me." He nodded.

She smiled softly before burrowing her head back into his chest, which he had to chuckle softly at. She was such a cuddler. Her breathing began to slow as they come to her door and he popped in the code. By the time he had laid her in bed and covered her up, she was almost completely out again.

"Goodnight, Pidge." he spoke softly and fondly, smiling down at the young girl before taking his leave. He wasn't really expecting a response, especially not the one he received.

"Night night, daddy."

He halted in his steps. Turning around, he noted that she was now fast asleep. With a deep breath, he continued out the door and down to his own room.

Maybe it was a prank orchestrated by Lance, or maybe it was just that they group really missed their parents. He wasn't sure why they were calling him that, but one thing he was sure of:

There was no possible way he could ever be deserving of that title.

•••

Shiro didn't know whether to be shocked with himself for not expecting this or shocked with Keith for finding him in this state.

Everyone had been on a pretty great high after defeating the Galra and healing the Balmara up, but all the stress of the passed few days had weight down on the young paladins. They had pretty much fallen down where they were standing after the celebration and adrenaline wore off. The princess herself was weak after using so much of her power and Coran was doing his best to keep her still, as to not use up the rest of the little strength she still had.

So, everyone on the ship was either asleep, relaxing, or trying to keep a certain Altean from injuring herself.

(They were all pretty much trying to keep Allura from doing that, but Coran was persistent to be the one in charge of her.)

He really should not have been surprised by this. Lance relaxed with a nice drink and a recliner, Hunk relaxed by either trying to cook something up or eating something, Pidge relaxed by doing—well, whatever she really felt like—on her computer, and Keith?

A loud clang shattered Shiro from his thoughts.

Keith trained.

"Start sequ—"

"Power off."

"Shiro!" the red paladin whipped around, his hair sticking to his forehead and moves sluggish. To the untrained eye, it would seem like he was just a little tired, but Shiro knew better. Keith hadn't even noticed his approaching and that itself was all that was needed to know in order to come to a conclusion:

Keith was downright exhausted.

"No, Keith." the black paladin's voice held a tone of authority that left no room for argument. Keith merely rolled his eyes and cross his arms over his chest, letting his bayard fall to the floor. Shiro didn't respond with words, only turned slightly and nodded towards the exit. With a huff, the red paladin headed for the doors.

He was quiet the entire way to his room, not claiming that he was going to go to sleep or saying that he hadn't meant to stay up so late. Both were lies and they both new that, so he didn't even try to fake anything.

As they neared the younger teen's room, Shiro stepped right in front of Keith, successfully stopping him in his tracks. "You're gonna wear yourself out one of these days."

He received an eye roll in response.

"I'm serious, Keith." he places a strong, yet at the same time gentle, hand on Keith's shoulder. "Pushing yourself like that isn't healthy and your body isn't made for that much exercise."

The teen scoffed and went to walk around his teammate but was stopped by a hand catching his wrist. He went to whip around to yell, but was pulled into a hug.

"You're not alone anymore, Keith. You don't have to fight for survival, or fight to stay alive. We may not be your blood, but you've got a family here and we all care about you—"

"Even Lance?" Keith mumbled, obviously not agreeing.

With a small smile, Shiro continued. "Even Lance. He doesn't really show it in the best of ways, but he does care. So does Hunk, Pidge, Coran, and Princess Allura. I'm not gonna make you do anything, but don't keep pushing yourself so hard, okay?" the black paladin released the teen, fully expecting a door to be slammed in his face.

Needless to say, he was quite surprised to be pulled back into another uh, this one a bit more forceful.

"Thank you, Dad."

His breath caught and he was sure his heart stopped beating, but it was all forgotten when two arms pulled tighter around his back. It lasted hardly more than a couple ticks before the red paladin let go and darted into his room, but it was enough for Shiro.

Maybe he was a bit messed up, maybe he did have a really dark past. But if these kids, who have all been through too much for a kid to deal with, could look up to him and call him 'dad', then maybe he was gonna be okay.

•••

Of course, when breakfast came the next morning, Lance and Keith were arguing over something stupid, Pidge was sitting upside down in her chair typing away at her laptop instead of eating her food, Hunk was trying to eat the said neglected food off of her plate, and the Alteans weren't in sight (probably gave up trying to control the kids and left it up to the team leader), Shiro figured that being the space dad was a bittersweet thing.


	8. They're Your's

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, so this is based off of something I saw on tumblr (link: http://renziblu.tumblr.com/tagged/they%27re-your-children-like-this-arguments) and had to write it! This is a bit choppy, mainly because I had my mom calling me while I was writing and my little siblings kept interrupting me. Hope you like it and have a blessed day!

Time Frame: Between episodes 5 and 6

Spoilers: Up till episode 7

Disclaimer: I don't own Voltron: Legendary Defender

•••

Family is the kids doing something embarrassing and the parents acting as if they're not their's when people start to stare while the crazier family members join in on the fun

•••

Shiro wondered how life would be if maybe the teens he was working with could have been just a bit more mature.

Perhaps they'd help out a bit around the castle willingly.

(He shook his head at the thought, smile tugging at his lips. That was never gonna happen, ever)

Perhaps they wouldn't complain as much about the food.

(Also something that would never, ever happen)

Or, you know... Maybe they wouldn't be playing Power Rangers in the training room.

(Oh, how could one only hope)

The black paladin gave a deep sigh, scratching the back of his neck as he tried to not let the second hand embarrassment get to be too much. Looking back to what had happened earlier that day, he tried to remember how in the planets this happened.

Surprisingly, it wasn't Lance's idea. Well, actually, it was technically Lance's idea to play it, but he wasn't who brought it up.

That'd be Pidge.

Good ole green lion paladin, grade-A hacker, tech savvy Pidge. She is the one who, just a few moments after all the paladins had finished a training plan on how to attack the Galra once they reached the planet of Balmara, came to the realization that their little space crew they had resembled that of the classic show.

Though Shiro greatly appreciates Pidge's input for whatever mission they are on, though he respects that she's so young and so smart, and though he would listen to whatever it was she wanted to say (whether concerning their missions, training, the lions, or even missing home or family members), he really wished she never brought that subject up.

At least, not in front of Lance and Hunk.

Immediately, the blue and yellow paladins lit up at the revelation. They began to go into quite great detail about how that was, in Lance's words, "So true!"

"We're even fighting the weird-looking creatures!" had been Hunk.

"And all the colors match!" Lance, again.

"Not really. I'm the only girl and I wear green, not pink." Pidge.

"Yeah, yeah.. That right." the tall boy had his hand on his chin, as if he was truly pondering this information.

What happened next, Shiro was sure that if bad ideas could kill, they'd only need to use this one to defeat the entire Galra.

"We should play Power Rangers!"

Shiro took his leave right after those words left Lance's mouth.

•••

So here the honorary defenders of the universe were, suited up, standing proudly in front of the training area.

Only it was just Lance, Hunk, Pidge, and Keith.

And Pidge's suit had pink cloth wrapped around the green sections.

Also, their training areas had various training bots dressed up as cheesy-looking villains in a gigantic obstacle course.

It looked absolutely ridiculous to him, and Shiro couldn't help but face-palm at the sight. Normally, he didn't mind having some free time to just hang out with the teens, but Power Rangers? Out of all the shows, that one? It was so cheesy, the graphics were terrible, and yeah, maybe he didn't like it mainly because of the incredibly tight and wacky costumes they'd wear. At least the paladin's suits were able to protect them. What in the world could a barrier of latex do? Cause someone to slip if they fell on it?

So yeah. He admits, he plays with toy guns, he does the voice to sound like he's really shooting something, and he doesn't mind playing around with everyone every once in a while.

But Power Rangers?

No.

Just, no.

He still wasn't sure how they were able to talk Keith into this, considering how the kid really didn't know much of anything concerning movies, or tv shows, or anything like that. But looking down at the group of teens from his position in the viewing room above the training area, Shiro smiled. Maybe it was the inner child in the red paladin that got him to be like this. Or maybe it was Lance or Pidge bribing him with something.

Both are very likely.

Before the team leader could do anymore wondering, (like how did they get that training bot to look just like that stupid purple villain?) Princess Allura and Coran joined him in the viewing box. They had left right after the training had ended earlier, before Pidge brought the whole Power Ranger thing up. The Alteans were probably back wondering where everyone had gone.

He gave a sheepish smile, knowing he'd have to explain this to them. A small part of him really was hoping that maybe they wouldn't ask.

Allura smiled with a nod of her head to him as she came to stand by his side. If Shiro was up here, that usually meant the rest were down there. Her worries of her paladins going off without telling her vanished when she heard some very familiar voices come from the training room. All was well until she looked down to see the group together, doing this weird dance? She cast a glance over to Shiro who shrugged in response.

"They're playing Power Rangers." he replied when she did it again. She looked rather, well... embarrassed. Mostly because Hunk had just pulled out his bayard and acted as if he was talking in it. In the room they were in, the Alteans and black paladin could hear everything going on beneath them, but the teens couldn't hear what was being said above them.

"What is—? Actually," she paused and straightened herself up with a deep breath, closing her eyes with the intake then opening them when she let it out. They could hear a large array of face shooting sounds from the teens, as well as some phrases that she hadn't a clue what they meant, but it didn't sound too amusing to her. "I truly don't want to know."

"That's probably a good thing." Shiro chuckled with a shake of his head.

Meanwhile, Coran was almost pressed up against the glass as he looked down at the teens with a sort of awe in his eyes. He jumped back when he heard the princess' words, eyes wide. "I do! This looks quite interesting, Princess, and I'm quite sure that as the Altean I am, I should know more about this—"

He was cut off by Lance calling Shiro's name.

The said person almost flinched, knowing what his teammate most likely wanted.

Still, he walked over to the control board and said, "Yes?" He really didn't even finish the one word before Lance spoke again.

"Will you please come down? We need the black power ranger, dude!" various voices in the background murmured excited agreements.

Before he could reply, Coran shoved his way in front of Shiro. "He's a bit uneasy about that, but I'll be willing to do whatever is needed!"

"Oh, yeah! That'd be so cool! Get down here!" the paladins began to talk animatedly amongst themselves, obviously pleased and quite excited by what they could now do. The red head didn't need to be told twice. Grinning like a fool, he rushed passed a very embarrassed looking Allura down to the training area.

Happy to be out of that, Shiro took a few steps back to Allura.

"They're all your teammates." she spoke immediately, a hand rubbing her temples. Shiro quirked an eyebrow at this.

"Really?" he chuckled, "if I do remember correctly, they're your paladins and that's your royal advisor."

"No." the princess spoke firmly, an odd mixture of embarrassment and disbelief on her face. "They're not mine when they act like this. They're your's."


	9. The Best Family They Can Be

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OHMYGOSH!!!! Y'all have left so many kind reviews! Thank you so much! This one is a prompt I got on here, though it was a really good prompt, I found it a bit difficult to write out while still making it my own and not just the prompt with some more words in it. But, I tried and this is what I've got! *SPOILERS* I'm using female pronouns because, when she revealed herself a girl, Keith said that he already knew she was. Keep sending in those prompts! Hope you enjoy and have a blessed day!

Time Frame: Between episodes 5 and 6

Spoilers: Up till episode 5

Disclaimer: I don't own Voltron: Legendary Defender

•••

Family isn't learning to love by steps, it's being thrown in and told, "Good Luck!"

•••

Keith sat in his bed, wide awake and staring at his door. 

The ship (the castle was a ship; that was a nice little piece of information the princess had told him while they were trying to get into the cas―ship) was still in need of repairing, Lance was still in that stupid healing-pod-thing, and Sendak was down in the cryo-pod that could easily break at any said moment, and he was here. 

In bed.

Because, apparently, "A well rested paladin will make up for whatever time may have been lost while sleeping whereas a tired paladin could cost us time and valuable resources!" as Coran had put it. He was completely expecting Allura to say something against it, since the ship was still in disarray, but she didn't. He thought that Shiro would be against the idea, but he wasn't. Hunk folded easily, though it seemed like his mind was somewhere else. Pidge gave a small fight, claiming that she could at least fix something before going to bed, but the leaders wouldn't have it.

The teen scoffed as he turned in bed, now glaring at his ceiling as if it was the reason why he was confined to his room. Right now, he could be fixing the ship somehow or training for whatever issue in need of the lions' help that came up next. 

But no, he had to stay here. Because the Princess, her advisor, and Keith's team leader said so.

The teen smirked. He never really did have a knack for following rules, so why should that stop now? Different place, different people (save for the paladins, although he really only knew Shiro), but he was still the same Keith. 

The same Keith that doesn't listen to anyone, the same Keith that doesn't care about what repercussions may take place, the same Keith that refused to lay in a bed when there was something else he could be doing to help in one way or another.

Shoving his blankets aside, the red paladin stood up. Grabbing his bayard from its usual place, he started to put his plan in action. The plan he came up with when he was forced into this room a few hours before. The plan that could prove that when he wanted to, he would get things done, whether or not he was told to do otherwise.

Shiro really wouldn't be happy in the morning if he were to find out, but that is if he found out. If his plan were to enfold the way he wanted, no one would know about his late night break out. Granted, he wouldn't be able to fix any part of the ship right now since he wasn't all too knowledgable about Altean technology. So, that left him with training. Not that he minded that at all. With a pleased smirk to himself, he began on his way.

Not even at the end of the hallway, he heard a small sound. 

Reacting quickly yet at the same time quietly, he got into a fighting stance, taking note of his surroundings. All that was around him were doors to the other paladin's rooms and an empty hallway. A frown made way to his face. Maybe staying so long in the middle of nowhere made him a bit too sensitive to sounds. But, that could be a good thing. 

Keith stayed in his stance, eye darting all round, looking for any signs of someone or something else in here with him. 

But there was nothing. No more of the sound, no human or Altean or Galra in sight, no humming from any type of robot or machinery, and basically, nothing was happening. The teen straightened himself up though he didn't drop his guard. With one final sweep of the hallway, he turned and continued on his way.

Yet, he didn't go far.

The sound came again and he whipped around to the direction where it had come from. Confusion overtook his features when he noted that it was coming from behind Pidge's door. That confusion didn't last, as he figured that his teammate could be in trouble.

He wasn't going to let two of his fellow paladins land in those healing pods in one day, not if he had anything he could say about it.

Within a second, his bayard was ready and he more or less barged into Pidge's room. Keith was ready to fight, no matter what was to greet him. 

He was met with something he really wasn't expecting, something he had no clue what to do with. 

He could go toe-to-toe with any of the cadets back at the Garrison and win. He could easily outfly the best pilot with a hand behind his back. He could survive on his own in the wilderness until old age got the better of him. He could face any type of Galra that came his way, bot or not. He was proud of those things, though he didn't flaunt his abilities as much as Lance did his own.

The one thing he couldn't do and truly never could, was deal with someone's emotions. He was skilled in anticipating his appoment's next move in any sort or fight, ranging from hand-to-hand combat to even a flying exercise. Yet, he couldn't tell what someone was thinking, He didn't know how to handle people when they got angry (because, as Hunk had told him, yelling back at them isn't 'handling it the correct way'), and he didn't know what to do when someone cried.

Like what was happening right now. At least, that's most likely what was happening before he pretty much broke into the green paladin's room.

Sitting in front of him with her bayard tightly in her grasp, was Pidge, tear streaks on her cheeks. Her surprised expression told him he most likely scared the crap out of her, but he had to commend her on instead of screaming and diving under her blanket, she was up and ready to defend herself.

All was still for a few moments, only heaving breathing passing between the two. Keith didn't like the tense silence but he didn't know what to say.

"Nice fighting stance." Keith's words broke whatever it was that kept them staring at each other. The younger of the two started, then her eyes began to jump all around the room.

"Thanks, but, uh..." she put her bayard down and rubbed her arm, still looking everywhere but back at Keith's face, "Please tell me you didn't break in here to just test my fighting skills?" she chuckled nervously, briefly glancing up at the older teen before tearing her eyes away once more.

Keith's eyes went wide, now realizing how much of a fool he must look like right now, invading someone's room because they were crying. Stupid. "N-no, that's not why." he mentally cursed himself for stuttering. Pidge was waiting for more, but none came. Instead, the red paladin stood before her, shifting from foot to foot and looking more nervous by the second. 

"Well then, if that's all—"

"Do you want to talk about it?" Keith blurted out quickly, cutting Pidge off. She stood there for a brief second before she was able to comprehend what it was that he had said.

"Talk about what?" she asked, the whole Keith-just-broke-in thing being a good distraction to cause her to forget what she had been doing before he entered.

That really only made this whole situation worst for Keith. He began to fidget a bit more, hands darting all over from scratching his neck to rubbing his hand over his mouth. He took a deep breath before saying, "Whatever it was that made you cry." 

And now she remembered. Her cheeks colored, having been caught in such an embarrassing predicament by the one person that she never would have wanted to catch her. Deciding that since they both really didn't want to deal with this, she chuckled nervously and tried to play it off. "Crying? I wasn't cry—"

"Yes, you were." 

"No—"

"Yes."

"Okay, I was." she frowned. "It's nothing. Go back to sleep or whatever. I'll be fine in the morning." she turned back towards her bed, assuming that Keith would let himself out.

He had other plans. 

He was Keith, Keith that doesn't listen to anyone, Keith that doesn't care about that repercussions may take place, Keith that refused to go do anything else when there was something he could be doing to help in one way or another.

So, he crossed his arms over his chest and planted his feet firmly in the ground. "No, I'm not leaving. I won't be leaving until I know for sure that you're okay." 

Pidge huffed and whirled around to face him, hands on her hips. "Why?" she asked, truly not wanting a reply but for him to get flustered and leave her be.

"Because you're my friend!" he argued, eyes becoming alive.

"Just because we're friends doesn't mean that I'm okay with telling you all about myself!"

"You don't have to tell me everything!" he threw his hands in the air and spoke as if it was obvious. "I just wanna know why you're upset!" 

"What if I don't want to tell you?"

"Too bad; I'm not going anywhere."

"Why are you so stubborn?"

"Why are you so stubborn?"

"Don't use my own words against me!"

"That's—that's not even what that just was and you know that!"

"So what? If it'll get you to leave me alone, I'll say it!"

"Why can't you just tell me—"

"Because I don't want to have a conversation about how everyone I'm around gets hurt!"

Everything went silent. Both stood there, breathing heavily and eyes wide, not knowing what to do. 

Pidge broke first.

Tears came back to her eyes and her breath caught in her throat which, when taken into consideration with her lack of breath at the moment, made it sound like she was sobbing. "My dad and brother are out in the universe somewhere—I don't even know where, or if they're okay, or anything! Shiro almost got killed because I was too stupid to listen to him, and," she tried to take a deep breath to calm herself but it only opened whatever gate that was holding her tears back, "and Lance—Lance—"

The young girl crumbled to the floor just by Keith's feet, unable to finish her sentence. The red paladin stared, for once in his life not knowing what his next move should be. With a shaky breath, he sat down next to her, and hoped with everything in him that what he was about to do wouldn't go wrong.

Rather awkwardly, he gently pryed Pidge's hands from her eyes and called out to her, trying to make his voice was soft as possible (wasn't easy for him), trying to get her to look at him. She still wasn't looking at him, though he had a hold on both of her hands. He gulped, then took a deep breath.

"Hey," he didn't wait for her to look at him, thinking she most likely wouldn't. "Hey, Lance is fine. Shiro's fine. They're both okay. Your dad and brother, that's not your fault. And they could still be fine." he was trying his best to make his voice as comforting as he could, though Pidge was painfully aware of how absolutely awkward it was for her teammate.

She chuckled and tried to tug her hands away to wipe her tears, but when Keith loosened his grip, he wiped away her tears for her. 

That shocked them both.

Keith pulled his hand back like she burned him. Pidge bit her lip to keep from laughing out loud at his reaction. "I, uh... I don't mean to do that. Pretend I didn't do that." she couldn't help the small chuckle that escaped despite her tries.

"How about we pretend this whole night never happened?" she asked, smiling up at him. He nodded stiffly and rose to his feet, her following soon after. He was about to turn away before she stopped him. "Keith?" she took a deep breath when he faced her again. "I—thanks. For that. I stand by what I said earlier, that you guys are like my family. I know you'll never take the place of my brother and dad, and that's okay because you guys are still a pretty great family."

He nodded again, this time more relaxed. "And I stand by what I said; I'm glad you're back." he stood there for a second, looking anxious, before crossing over to her with two large strides and patting her on the back, not willing to have any more physical contact than needed. Keith locked eyes with her, giving a small (and quite stiff) smile. 

With that all done, he turned and went to go back to his room for the night while Pidge went to her's.

So, maybe he didn't fix the castle, or get in any training, or check up on Sendak. But he was able to help Pidge out and that was enough. 

But in all honesty, if he could have any say on when the next time he'd be having to comfort anyone, he'd like to at least be warned first. 

•••

The black paladin quietly laid in his own bed, a smile clear on his face even in the dark. 

Shiro hadn't known for certain that any of the paladins were going to sneak out, but he had a suspicion that at least one would. So after the paladins were 'asleep', he remained awake just to see what would happen. He wasn't surprised that it was Keith, having been able to tell which set of doors had opened. He was going to wait until he made it into the other hallway before following but Keith made the detour to Pidge's room. This confused him, especially since he couldn't hear what Keith had heard, but did follow the red paladin. 

He had sat outside the green paladin's room, hearing everything until Pidge started to cry (apparently) once more. After that, he realized that maybe he shouldn't stay and eavesdrop. So, he quietly returned to his room, happy that his team—his family—were all willing to learn how to be a family, the best family they can be.


	10. The Game

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys for all the kudos! This chapter is the longest yet and took me all day to write, mainly because of writers block. I took inspiration for this from this post ---> http://cindersart.tumblr.com/post/147260286380/the-others-take-bets-on-how-long-itll-take-for 

Time Frame: Post-finale, sometime after they've all been found

Spoilers: Whole Season

Disclaimer: I don't own Voltron: Legendary Defender

•••

Family is a constant game of "Ask Mom" and "Ask Dad"

•••

Everyone in the Castle of Lions knew that if you wanted something, go to either Shiro or Allura. After working for so long together, the young paladins soon realized how to act with each of their leaders in order to get what they wanted. 

Shiro is more likely to say yes if you do some sort of puppy eyes (he's a sucker for them and Pidge is the reigning champion, Hunk a close second) or use some excuse because whatever you're asking for reminds you of Earth. 

Allura is more likely to say yes if you butter her up first (Lance is the best, period. His secret was to stop trying to flirt but instead compliment her on her piloting, combat, or mechanic skills) then ask for it, saying how it could help you with your training or whatnot.

The paladins, being the teens they were, used this to their great advantage. Usually, it'd be something small, like a pretty vase from some far away place or a tool set from a very industrialized planet. But there were sometimes that what they asked for wasn't small or one of the two didn't want to say yes or no. When that happened, the game was played.

Those were times - though they were few - that the four teens really got a taste of what it was like living back on earth with a mom and dad.

•••

Keith started the game, even though he didn't understand it.

There really wasn't anything he wanted when they went to different planets, though even if he did, it probably wouldn't go well for him. He couldn't do the whole 'puppy eyes' thing; no matter how many times Hunk tried to teach him. Nor was he good at the 'buttering up' part; if he complimented someone, he really meant it. He also usually wouldn't repeat it, if at all possible. 

So, he didn't have any cool gadgets or knick-knacks from anywhere like the other three did (and Coran, because apparently he picked up on both of the get-what-you-want shortcuts after watching the paladins do it so much) and he was okay with that. He never really had much anyways so this was no different.

Yet, as they went through the dusty paths of the planet they were doing a well-check on, he saw something he absolutely needed.

It was behind the counter of a tent in the market area, looking as glorious as ever. A set of dual swords hung proudly on a display board, crossed in an X shape over each other. The blades were rather thin and a bit curved, making them able to cut through practically anything incredibly quickly. The handles on them were made of a stone that was just about as dark as could be, though there was a red fabric around certain parts where one's fingers would grip. 

At that moment, Keith was grateful that the inhabitants of this place had hands like humans.

He had stopped dead in his tracks, causing Shiro to almost run into his back. His leader side stepped and came to his side, all while looking at him rather strangely. The young man followed Keith's trail of sight and it was like a light bulb went off in his head. He smiled then gestured towards the tent, giving Keith an okay to go see it.

He didn't need to be told twice.

Quicker than Shiro could blink, the red paladin went over to go see the beautiful swords. They were well pleasing to the eye, but Shiro knew that wasn't what got the teen's attention. They were incredible combat swords, ones he'd be able to use if there was a malfunction with his bayard or if he just couldn't get it or his lion in time.

They were probably at the tent for an hour, Keith questioning the man behind the counter (was it a man? Sounded like so, but then again, that could be wrong) about how they were made, what was their purpose, how to use them. The creature answered all the questions with honor, quite proud of the swords. He even pulled out their covers, made of a rich black leather-type material with carvings of different types of the local animals all around it.

Just before Shiro was about to mention that they needed to leave, the owner suddenly had a thoughtful expression and looked both of the paladins up and down. 

"You're those people in the flying fossas?" Keith quirked an eyebrow at the question, not having a clue what a fossa was, but Shiro nodded with a smile.

"Yes, we're two of the paladins." the man looked a bit afraid, most likely remembering what had happened the last time aliens had landed on their small desert planet. 

Shiro was quick to reassure him. "We're here to drop off supplies for you all so that you can rebuild what the Galra took or destroyed." 

The man's relief was instantaneous and it showed. It was as if his mood shifted gears as a large smile made way to his face. "Misaotra anao! Misaotra anao!" he cried as he, rather roughly, sook both of their hands. At their taken aback expressions, he mumbled something under his breath before saying, "Thank you! Thank you for coming to help our people." he stopped suddenly and whirled around, taking the swords off of the board and placing them in their sheaths. He held them out to Keith, grateful smile still present. "Take them, as a thank you."

Keith looked over to Shiro, eyes bright and hopeful. The man cleared his throat then gulped. "I, uh... Ask Princess Allura. She needs to okay whatever comes aboard her ship.

Keith mumbled a quick 'hold on' to the shopkeeper before taking off towards the ship to find the princess.

He was told to ask Shiro. 

After explaining that Shiro was who told him to ask her, she still gave the same reply.

Keith ended up running back and fourth a total of six times, but the last time he came back the shopkeeper had just shoved them in his hands with a smile. A bit tired and a tad irritated, but a smile nonetheless.

Not having parents to learn from, he didn't have a single clue as to what can of worms he had just opened. 

•••

Pidge was the player that almost lost the game, being only the second player.

It had been about two months in Earth time since the game began when Coran informed Princess Allura that they were coming up to a planet that the Alteans currently had a standing alliance with. Supposedly, the mostly forest planet didn't have any of the resources that the Galra wanted so they hadn't been targeted. The princess sent a video message to the what they had on record at the palace, explaining their intentions and that they were peaceful.

Two days later, they were eating with the royal family in a wooden palace.

The king was a kind hearted man which could have been considered ironic, since he had two hearts. Apparently, only those of royal blood had two hearts in their species. To a human eye, the creatures looked like walking orange lizards (which Lance mentioned literally the moment he laid eyes on them). They didn't have a tail, however, but they did have hair; it was just incredibly shiny hair (Hunk almost tried to pet one of them before Shiro was able to stop him).

King Amiri welcomed them with open arms after learning that the last of the Alteans were wishing to visit him and his people. His great-great-great grandfather had known King Alfor, having made the treaty of peace with him, and passed incredible stories about the people to his children who, in turn, passed to their's, and continued until Amiri himself learned. He was more than happy to be able to speak with the people he had heard so much about and the paladins of the flying lions.

The Castle of Lions was on the planet for a while, taking a bit of a break from all of the issues of the universe. The lizard people had nice things to busy yourself with, actual living beings to train with, salads that were actually good, and robots. The teens almost didn't want to leave. 

So, when the day arrived, Shiro took Keith and Lance to go around and collect whatever necessities they may need, Coran and Hunk decided to go get the castle ready to move again, and Allura and Pidge hang around with the royal family, Allura resigning peace treaties and agreements while Pidge followed whatever robot was nearby, getting overly excited about them and trying to figure out what it was they did.

That's how the queen of the planet found the green paladin; sitting crisscross in front of a robot her height (when standing) with a notebook and pen. Had she not any composure, the woman would have laughed at the happy teen. "That one is a cleaning bot."

Pidge jumped about a foot in the air with a squeak, startlingly the queen and the robot both. "Sorry!" she whisper-yelled right afterwards. "I didn't mean to get to close."

The female shook her head with a small grin, "Don't be sorry. It's a rather new addition to our palace." her smile widened a bit. "In fact, I believe that you could take him with you, if you're permitted. It must be difficult to keep such a large area spotless while defending the universe, yes?" 

Pidge could have fainted. Looking back, she's surprised she didn't. 

"Seriously? That's be so awesome!" the teen's smile was about as wide as her face. Just then, Allura rounded the corner, King Amiri in tow. Pidge was by her side in a flash. "Princess, this nice lady said I could have this robot if I'm allowed. Can I?"

Princess Allura could feel the eyes of the royal couple on her. She chuckled nervously and bent down a bit to her paladin's level. "I think I'd be a good idea to ask Shiro instead." 

And the girl was gone. Down the hallway, out the doors, on her way to find her team leader.

The princess smiled, a bit embarrassed. "She does really like robots."

King Amiri laughed heartily. "Ah, she's a spirited one, I say."

Pidge returned as Allura was signing the last of the documents. She ran into the queen before she saw her princess, though. "What is the answer, then, little one?" she spoke sweetly but that didn't matter much. The young teen's face was crestfallen still. To her, the game between Allura and Shiro is what her parents would play if she wasn't allowed to have something but her mom or dad didn't want to be the one to break the bad news. 

"Shiro told me to ask Allura." the queen tilted her head to the side, not understanding why he'd do such a thing when the woman had specifically sent the small Earthling to him for the answer. Deciding it was just a human thing, she let it go.

"Well, I think that you should just take him, as a gift. There's no one that says you can't have one of those, no?" 

Pidge did faint. But when she woke up in her bed to the beeping of a robot trying to dust her, she was okay was whatever embarrassment she had.

•••

Hunk was the player that didn't even play the whole game.

Where they were was known as a rest stop, to put it simply. It wasn't even a planet or star. It was a large meteorite with a restaurant that sold not very good food, a store that barely had what you may need, and a recharge or refuel station.

Basically, it was boring. Not one person tried to hide their disinterest with being here. Yet, Allura insisted that they needed to stop here, for there was a certain person who had knowledge about where a weak spot of the Galra was. 

And it got worst: only Allura was allowed to go meet the mystery person. 

No one agreed with that. 

But, she was able to convince them that she'd be okay, even taking Hunk and Coran with her to watch over her. The princess picked them because they had worked together before and hopefully would do well keep her safe, Coran being her royal advisor and all, while Hunk was the muscle, if needed. Keith and Shiro both wanted to go but she told them to stay put because they'd be too noticeable. Lance was just told straight up that he wasn't allowed, ever, when he volunteered.

They were there for less than a human hour.

The meeting was in the store area, third booth on the left side. Not to look suspicious, Coran and Hunk looked through shelf after shelf as if they were truly interested in buying something. Everything was either too old or too beaten up to even be worth a penny, but they still had to sell the performance, so they continued to look. 

About 30 minutes after the guy was supposed to arrive, Hunk found a beaten up cook book. He flipped through the ripped and torn pages, eyes only skimming the words. It was obviously meant for a space abiding person, the ingredients all things he had never heard of. He was about to put it away before he figured out something—he could read it. It was in English.

The book was suddenly the best thing he'd seen since he last visited Shay.

He held the book close to his chest, promising to ask Allura as soon as her meeting was over if he could have the book.

His chance come sooner than he thought.

The princess sighed sadly before sliding out of the booth, making a motion with her head for Coran and Hunk to follow her. They were stood up, probably just a twisted sort of prank or someone who actually didn't have knowledge but wanted whatever the princess had to offer. 

Before they could leave, Hunk asked, "Hey, Allura? I found this really cool cook book—it's in English! I was wondering of it was possible for me to maybe have it?"

The woman turned to him. She looked closely at the book in his hands, lips in a tight line. To her, it didn't look like it was worth any amount of money and she truly didn't want to waste any on it, so she did was any other person would. "I think you ought to ask Shiro." 

Hunk nodded enthusiastically and was about to put the book up, mentally promising it that he'd be back, when a large boom sounded from the other side of the store. 

"Ship, now!" Coran shouted and grabbed the yellow paladin by his collar, the princess already running in front of them.

To be fair, Hunk hadn't realized he didn't put the book down until the store was out of sight and Pidge asked him what he was holding.

•••

Lance was the player that decided cheat in the game.

The Castle of Lions had to take an emergency landing on the closest planet after a Galra ship damaged their castle a bit too much. The planet was mostly water, save for some small patches of land that could maybe fit a small village. They had, luckily, been able to make it to one of those patches before the castle shut off.

Coran had whisked Hunk and Pidge away to go get started on repairs immediately. By this time, with how long they had spent in the Castle of Lions, the engineer and technician had pretty much learned everything they needed to know in order to fix the castle in case Allura or Coran were unavailable for some reason and there were issues with their home. The green and yellow paladin were the one's that would be doing the actual fixing, but Coran was going along to oversee them.

AKA Coran was just going to sit back and relax while Pidge and Hunk worked.

Princess Allura and the rest of the paladins had taken to the outside, just to explore where they had just landed. As they journeyed away, the princess told them what planet they were on. 

She had explained that there once was a people that called it home, but they had died out around the time the Galra began to truly rise to power. No one really knew what the creatures looked like because they mainly lived in water, hardly ever seen. The only things they were certain of was that they liked to trade with whoever came to visit their planet. The creatures would leave these beautiful carvings made from the stones from their waters on the sand for whoever was willing to deal with them. Some carvings were of plants and animals and, sometimes, they'd take a large slab of the colored rock and carve a constellation into it.

She continued to talk about it, up until they reached a none too deep cave. The group could see the end of it, but there were paintings all over the walls. The princess decided to tarry there to look at them while the paladins continued on. 

The next stop was at a large waterfall that spilled into a crystal clear lake.

Then, Lance got what he called his 'best idea ever'. Keith called it 'stupid'. 

"Guys!" the blue paladin jumped on the balls of his feet, not even trying to hide his excitement. Keith rolled his eyes at him while Shiro smiled at his sudden joy.

"What's up?"

"This is water that they used to have back home! When we'd visit my mama's home land, we'd go swimming in water like this!"

"Okay, yeah, it's pretty water. Do you have a point to this or—"

"I wanna go swimming!"

If there were crickets, they'd probably be chirpping right now.

The black paladin looked at him with wide eyes, not commenting on how much of a terrible idea that was. Keith threw compassion in the wind as he stared at Lance like he was crazy.

"We have no clue what—"

"I'll find out whatever we need to know if I get go swimming in it."

"There's a good possibility this water could kill you—"

"Worth it."

"You're an idiot."

"Yeah? Well at least—."

"Guys," Shiro warned them, effectively stopping whatever fight that could have possibly started. They glared at each other before Lance remembered what it was he wanted to do and turned his attention to Shiro.

"Can I?" he gave the best puppy eyes he had, though they were pretty much over rode by the joy he had in them. 

"Ask Allura." 

That being all the answer he needed, the teen took off to where they'd left the princess. Keith gave Shiro a disbelieving look, receiving a sheepish shrug in return.

"I don't want to be the one that hurts the kid's feelings." he mumbled when he was sure Lance was out of ear shot.

As soon as the blue paladin found the Altean, he rattled off what they had found and what he wanted to do so quickly that she almost didn't catch him. As soon as the information processed, she wished she hadn't.

"You should ask Shiro. He is the team leader, after all." she smiled at him before turning her attention back to the cave walls. Lance's shoulder's slumped, knowing full well how this game went. He had enough siblings and enough weird questions between him and them to know how the "ask mom" "ask dad" thing went.

But, then again, that also meant he knew how to cheat.

He ran back to the waterfall as fast as his legs could carry him. He didn't even bother coming up with a good lie, just shouted, "She said yes!" as he began to shed his armor on his way to the edge of the lake, all while Keith trailed him yelling,

"I really don't think that's true!"

"I want to hear that from her before you jump!" 

And the loudest,

"I'm fairly certain you are going to die!" 

Later that night, when Shiro and Allura found out that Lance had lied, they grounded him to his room for a whole day with no music or any type of fun for him to do.

They found out a few days later that was really a stupid thing to do.

•••

"Excuse me, Shiro and Princess Allura?" Coran asked almost a week after Lance's stunt. The two looked up from the map in front of them. "Do you think it would be possible to stop by the next inhabited planet? Hunk would like to try out a certain recipe we have."

The two gave a small shrug and spoke at the same time, 

"Ask Shiro." "Ask Allura."

And everything stood still. Their eyes wide and faces red, the black paladin and princess couldn't even bring themselves to look at each other while an awkward silence filled the room. Coran looked between the two, rocking back and forth on his feet and trying to think of a way out of this mess.

"Well then, I'll leave you to it." he said hastily, dashing out the door and down the hallway only to come face to face with the rest of the paladins. They all had rather sly grins on their faces. Coran let out a breath he hadn't known he was holding.

"I don't understand why it was that you all asked me to do that. All they did was tell me to ask the other." The grins grew and Lance was who spoke up.

"Well, Coran, they were unknowingly playing a game. We simply let them in on it."


	11. How?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A prompt! To be quite honest, I didn't know how in the world to write it, but hopefully it turned out well. Thank you all for your kudos and comments! They mean so much to me! Using 'they/them' pronouns for Pidge because her gender hasn't been revealed yet. Hope y'all enjoy and have a blessed day!

Time Frame: Between episodes 3 and 4

Spoilers: None

Disclaimer: I don't own Voltron: Legendary Defender 

•••

Family means your embarrassing moment is either seen or heard by every single member

•••

Pidge had never regretting anything more in their life. Granted, they are still young, but so far this was definitely what they regretted most. 

"Have you tried to wiggle?" the green paladin groaned at the sound of the voice.

"Yes. For the fifth time, I have tried to wiggle. Are you gonna keep asking me this question or get me out?"

They were stuck. 

In an air vent. 

You wanna know how? Too bad, they were not going to tell anybody. Not as long as they lived. They had been there for a few hours before they heard someone walking passed. Pidge had called out to then, happy someone would be able to finally get them out.

There was only one downfall to this.

"Maybe you should try a little harder to wiggle." 

That someone who was passing by them? Yeah, it was Lance. And he really wasn't good at this whole getting-Pidge-free-from-the-vent thing.

"Lance!"

"What? I'm just trying to help!" 

"Wiggling is just making me slip down further. Sorry, but I'd rather not fall to my death, thank you very much." the teen huffed and crossed his arms, glaring at where he was pretty sure Pidge was at in the wall. 

"What do you want me to do, then?" he asked, enough sarcasm to kill a horse. "Pull the wall off myself?" it was meant to be a joke, but he got an idea from it. The teenage boy was suddenly quiet as a huge grin spread across his face. 

Pidge knew that quiet and Lance was never a good thing.

"No, no, no no no!" they struggled a bit, trying to get out once more. "Don't do anything stupid!"

The blue paladin scoffed. "Me? Do something stupid? You're talking to Lance, here, my dear friend!" 

"Yeah, I know. What I said still stands." Pidge rolled their eyes.

Lance made a face but didn't reply, instead heading over to the door to go get some tools. He'd be able to get Pidge out, easy-peasy. "I'll be right back!"

"No, Lance! Don't—" they groaned when they heard their friend's hurried footsteps getting farther away. "Great. I'm gonna die in here." 

•••

Lance returned fairly quickly, dragging a cart behind him. It had to have had every single tool Pidge ever used on it (though the green paladin couldn't see that). Some may call it overboard, he called it being cautious. 

"I'm back, and I'm going to get you out. Have no fear, a guardian of the galaxy is here!" he puffed his chest out and used a wrench-looking object to salute with. Pidge let their head hit the back of the vent.

"Hey, guardian of the galaxy, when did you join Marvel?" 

"Huh?"

"Were defenders of the universe, not guardians of the galaxy, you knuckle head."

"Oh." Lance thought about that for a second, before a bang from the wall got his attention. "Oh! Yeah, Pidge, right. Gonna get you out now." he grabbed a handful of tools from the cart and with a determined expression, got started on trying to open up the wall and save his friend.

He had only gotten through half of the tools when Keith came in.

"Lance, why are you beating up the wall?" he asked once he was close enough. The other paladin hadn't heard him enter, thus causing him let out a shout of surprise when the red paladin spoke. Keith merely rolled his eyes and crossed his arms in front of him.

"Why did you steal all the tools?" the red paladin's eyes went wide for a brief moment before he cast Lance a disbelieving look. "You're not trying to hide them in the wall to prank Coran again, are you? You do remember how well that went last time you hid his things, correct?"

He did remember. 

He had to do extra training that day. Extra training with a level 4 bot. 

It was terrible.

"I am not beating up the wall—actually, yeah, I am doing that— but not to hide the tools! I just brought them because I didn't know which ones would open the wall up." Lance explained, hand gestures and all. Keith had to lean back a few times in order not to get whacked in the head with what looked like an all white hammer.

"Why are you trying to break into the wall?" Lance thought a moment, trying to think of a way to say this. Simply stating, 'Pidge is in there.' would leave too many questions and really, what fun was that? With a smirk, he began to explain.

"Ah, well, I have something very important to me in this wall. Somehow, it had gotten into one of the air ducts and has since fallen to this area here," he motioned to where a large number of scrapes and dents were, "so now I am trying to get it out." 

Keith didn't look convinced. But, he was gonna go along with it for a bit to see where Lance was going to take it.

"And what is that thing that fell down the air vents?" he asked, still not showing the slightest bit of believing the blue paladin.

"Pidge."

Keith waited for a second, expecting Lance to suddenly say he was joking or something else equally as stupid. When nothing came, he scoffed.

"Really, Lance? You think I'm going to believe—" he was cut off by a voice from the wall.

"He's not lying." Pidge grumbled, just loud enough for the boys to hear. Lance smiled smugly while Keith looked on, dumbstruck. "I'm stuck in the air vent."

"What—" 

"I know! That was my reaction, too!"

"Shut up, Lance. How did this happen?"

"How am I supposed to know? Ask—"

"I was asking Pidge before you decided to reply instead." 

They fight came to an abrupt end when Pidge spoke up. "Hey, pretty boys, if you'd stop arguing and get me out, that'd be nice." 

With a final glare, Keith grabbed what he was pretty sure was a screw driver and began to work on the bolts. Lance went to grab another one and help out, but the red paladin stopped him.

"No. Go get Coran or Hunk to do this. You obviously aren't good at it." he motioned towards the very damaged part of the wall. With a hurmph, Lance stalked out of the room. 

"Great! Thanks, Keith. Now even more people get to know about me getting stuck in an air vent." Pidge said sarcastically. Keith shrugged in reply.

•••

"Please tell me this is a joke." was the first thing Hunk said as he entered the room. Seeing Keith working on getting the wall apart, he realized it wasn't. "Oh my gosh, Pidge! I was so hoping that Lance was just joking and you weren't crazy enough to get stuck in the wall." he whined as he got closer to where Keith and Pidge were. 

Pidge frowned. "You really think I want to be in here?"

The yellow paladin shifted awkwardly on his feet for a moment. Deciding not to reply, he just grabbed the tool he was going to need and began to help Keith out while Lance watched.

A few minutes later, all of the bolts were out and Hunk was setting a large section of wall up against the cart full of tools. He was grinning proudly at what they had accomplished, Lance giving him a thumbs up when he caught the blue paladin's eye. He smiled again then grabbed a smaller wrench to work on the side of the air vent. Keith was already at it, face set in serious concentration.

"Pidge, how you holding up in there?" Lance asked. He had been talking to the green paladin while the others worked, half out of concern for his friend and half out of just wanting there to be noise outside of twisting metal (was it even metal? Who knew what the Alteans used for their ships). 

"Good. My legs and arms are asleep, but I'm good." came a reply, louder than what they had been now that one barrier was gone. 

It continued for a bit, Lance talking to Pidge while Hunk and Keith worked on getting the air vent apart. Finally, after what had felt like hours to the green paladin, the wall of their small prison fell off and they with it.

"Pidge!" Hunk cried, dropping his tool on Keith's foot - causing the teen to yelp - and dove to his friend. "Oh my gosh, you're not dead! That's great!" he pulled Pidge into a bear hug. 

"Hunk," Pidge coughed, " can't breathe." immediately, he dropped them with a 'sorry!'. They hit the floor rather roughly. 

"Hunk!" Lance chastised. "We just got the dude away from sudden death and now you're gonma break them! Didn't you ever learn to handle small objects with care?" the blue paladin admonished, actually being serious for once, despite his choice of words. He sat on the floor next to where Pidge lay, the new free teen moving their arms and legs around to wake them up. "Hunk is very sorry for—"

"Lance, I was stuck in a wall, not getting my mind wiped clean. You don't have to talk to me like I don't understand English."

"Y-Yeah, I knew that. I was just testing your sarcasm levels. Still pretty good! At least we knew that getting stuck didn't mess your head up." he chuckled nervously.

While all that was going on, Keith had already gotten started on putting the walls back in place. "Are you guys gonna have a reunion or help me out?" got their attention. Hunk smiled down at Pidge before getting up and heading over to the hole in the wall. 

"Thanks, guys, for getting me out. But could you please do me a favor and not tell anyone about this?" 

•••

Later, when they were all getting cleaned up from the recent training exercise, Shiro came to Pidge's side while the other paladins were talking with Allura and Coran at the other end of the room. 

"So, how did you get stuck in the air vent?" Shiro asked, failing to keep the smile from his face. Pidge's face, on the other hand, got red. They had a shocked look for a moment before anger came across. 

"Who told you?"

"Relax, no one told me. You were stuck in the air vent, Pidge. You do know that they're all connected, right? To all the rooms?"

Pidge could have died right then and they'd be okay with that. 

"Again, how?"


	12. The Worst PUNishment Ever

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry but do you seriously think Lance and Hunk wouldn't spend their free time swapping space puns? Really? I'm almost sure it's canon. I'm pretty sure Keith would be able to get at least some of them, since he was a pilot and all. Allura and Coran would LOVE whichever ones they understood. My headcanon, anyways. Pidge's pronouns will be the same as last chapter. Hope y'all enjoy and have a blessed day!

Time Frame: Between episodes 2 and 3

Spoilers: Up to episode 3

Disclaimer: I don't own Voltron: Legendary Defender 

•••

Family is annoying you, at least twice a week, to the point you have to leave the room

•••

They were going to die. Pidge was almost 92% sure they were going to die if they heard one more awful–

"Hey, Hunk!" it's like they could hear the smug look.

"Yes, Lance?" the dude was doing everything he possibly could so to not to burst out laughing. Not only could you tell by the small giggles that would slip through every so often, but his lips were stretched so thin that you couldn't even see them.

"How does the solar system hold up it's pants?" 

No. No, no, no. No. Please, to every single star in existence, please don't–

"With an asteroid belt!"

Pidge groaned loudly as the boys broke out into a way too loud fit of laughter, tears in their eyes and even going as far as clutching their stomachs. Luckily, the green paladin isn't dead yet, as much as they thought they would be after sitting in the hall with these two knuckle heads, listening to them rattle off space pun after space pun. They probably wouldn't have minded much if the puns were good, but they weren't. They were terrible. Like the ones that are stuck in your head for years and you can never get rid of them, no matter how much you wish you could. 

"Wait, wait... I've got a good one!" Hunk spoke up after his laughter subsided a little. He was still breathing heavy from laughing so hard, however. 

Okay, so maybe it wasn't a very good thing they were still alive at the moment. That would be decided in a few ticks.

"Why did the sun go to school?" 

"I dunno, why?" Lance replied as he stood back up. The blue paladin leaned against the wall while biting his lip, probably to keep himself from losing control again.

The teenager almost couldn't give the punch line because of his squeaks of laugher. 

"To get brighter!" and again, the two were a mess of noisy snorts and bellowing laughter as the repeated the process they've been at for the majority of the time they have been in this hallway.

Pidge closed their eyes and took a deep breath, just like they were taught to do when they got all worked up. Opening their eyes, they saw that their teammates weren't done with their laughing fit yet. The paladin's shoulders slumped and they let their head hit the back of the wall again. The rest of the group should be arriving soon so they could go run another drill as a team, so maybe they wouldn't have to suffer too much longer. Shiro would come and make them stop.

They hoped he would, anyways.

"How do you get a baby astronaut asleep?" by this time, Lance was at least standing up without having to be propped up by the wall. His grin was still huge, but he had recovered enough to apparently rattle off a new pun. Hunk looked at him eagerly, not trusting his voice at the moment to give an answer. "You rock-it."

As they knew the boys would, they started laughing again. Except this time, there was a new laugh along with Lance and Hunk's. The two were too busy laughing their butts off to notice, but Pidge did. 

Whirling around to the entrance of the hallway, they saw Keith laughing almost hysterically, Shiro looking like he didn't know whether to laugh at the joke or speak out about how bad it was, and the Alteans looking rather confused. Pidge sighed. 

"Keith, please tell me you don't find these funny." they said when the others came closer. Their voice was monotone, showing just about how done they were with their teammates' choice of jokes. 

"It was funny." the red paladin still had a small smile and shrugged, not really knowing what to say in retaliation.

Pidge looked like they wanted to scream. "No, it really, truly, wasn't. It's terrible. They're terrible." they gestured wildly with their arms as they spoke, affirming their thoughts about the bad puns.

"We can't really get upset if these are they jokes that make them laugh, Pidge." Shiro responded to the green paladin's little freak-out. "If it makes them happy, who are we to judge?"

He was given a flat look in return. 

There goes their only hope to getting the puns to stop.

"I agree with Shiro, Pidge." the princess spoke up. "I do not understand what exactly is going on, but if it bring joy to others, we should put aside our wants and let them be happy." 

Before they could go ahead and give a whole list of reasons (good reasons, with explanations and everything) as to why that was a very, very bad option, no matter if anyone like those stupid puns or not, Hunk took his turn on making a joke.

"How do you organize a space party?" The room went dead quiet, two paladins waiting impatiently, one trying to decide whether he wanted to go ahead and take part of this montrocity or not, one just done with everything going on at the moment, and two Alteans that looked pretty antsy even though they might not understand the joke. "You planet!"

Everyone broke into laughter. Save Pidge, who just slumped even further (if possible) against the wall they were leaning against. Lance, Hunk, and Keith were all laughing uncontrolably, Allura and Coran not laughing as hard but enough that tears were springing in their eyes, and Shiro was just chuckling.

That traitor. He was supposed to be the one to get the stupid boys to shut up.

After they were all composed again, Shiro saw out of the corner of his eye a very irritated-looking teenager. The leader couldn't get but chuckle at the pout the small teen had. He shook his head and stood up straight, clearing his throat as he did so. It got the attention of the other paladins, who were still on their high from laughing so much (Lance and Hunk moreso than Keith) as well as the Alteans. Coran wasn't even trying to hide his broad grin whereas Allura, he could tell, was trying to diminish her's just a bit to look like she had a handle on her emotions.

"Okay, guys. That is enough. We're here to do an exercise as a team, and that's what we'll be doing." Lance was about to say something, probably about how they were always training or how the teens couldn't be teens, but Shiro cut him off before he even spoke. Pidge, even though they mainly wanted to puns to stop, did have a point with getting the exercise going. "We are going to do this, whether you want to or not."

Pidge looked like the only one who was happy at the moment. Obviously, the boys and Coran looked upset and were grumbling not-so-quietly, but surprisingly, the princess herself looked a little downtrodden at Shiro's command, too.

Pidge and Shiro locked eyes for a secon and the smaller was sure their world stopped moving. 

No. 

Goodness gracious, no. They were definitely going to do something bad to mess with his bed or prank him in some way. 

Why? 

Because he gave them, 'sorry' look.

Which, if you could piece that together with what was just happening, means...

"Come on guys, I don't want to have to pun-ish you."

It was so still for the couple seconds that followed that you could have heard pin drop. Then, it was like someone took a giant wrecking ball to a small dam. The laughter poured out, all loud and crazy and obnoxious.

"I'm done. I'm so completely done." Pidge stood from their spot on the ground, throwing their hands in the air to emphasize.

"Oh, come on, Pidge! You've gotta admit, that was punny!" Hunk, didn't you ever learn not to mess with someone that could rewire your whole lion?

"Yeah, and it came out of nowhere! Just like how a good comet should!" everyone else began to laugh harder, but for Pidge, that was it. Lance's headphones are going to electrocute him next time he puts them on.

Pidge huffed on their way down the hallway. "Come and get me when you guys are actually going to train, not keep up with these stupid puns."

"Alright," Keith, please, don't make them have to damage your— "We'll just give you some space till then."

There's absolutely no possible way that they were going to survive with this group of complete stupid-heads.


	13. They're Soft

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> They're Soft
> 
> Okay so I know y'all sent in prompts and I'm trying to get to them (they're all ones that will have to be pretty long so I'm debating on whether to put them in here with these or make them their own stories), but I saw this headcanon and had to write something. Credit to ikiracake on tumblr! Hope y'all enjoy and have a blessed day!

Time Frame: Somewhere between episode 5 to the season finale

Spoilers: Up to episode 8

Disclaimer: I don't own Voltron: Legendary Defender

•••

Family is not having anything for yourself because everything that you own becomes everyone else's, too

•••

Hunk cared about his teammates, he really did. Even though he didn't know all of them too well, he knew them at least a bit. It wasn't a lot, but it was enough for him to care about them.

That and almost dying with them on a daily basis certainly got your heart feeling things.

Yet, there were still things that they did which he didn't like. Like when Lance would run up to him and whack him in the head with a pillow, declaring a pillow war against him. A pillow war was something only Lance could really pull off, since the only difference between a pillow fight and a pillow war was that Lance could probably knock him out with the pillow if Shiro or Keith didn't come in a break it up when it got bad. 

Keith's, bless that poor boy's heart, downfall in Hunk's eyes wasn't really his fault, per say. Hunk didn't know much about his past, but he knew enough not to get too offended (most of the time) when his friend would shut someone out or speak negatively about something. But whenever Hunk would say an 'impractical joke', Keith would argue with him about it. No matter how many times he'd try to tell his teammate that it was just a joke, Keith would still fight him because the joke was "Not even possible!"

Shiro... Well, he really didn't have an issue with any of Shiro's antics or behavior yet. 'Yet' being the key word. Surely, after a few more weeks, he'll find something he didn't like. They were on a ship in space with nowhere to escape to, anyway.

Pidge would steal people's shirts. Plain and simple. He didn't know when it started or how she ever got a hold of them, but one day she just showed up to dinner wearing Lance's favorite shirt. Said teen was quick to complain, but when Pidge made a comment about how she still didn't have her headphones back, he shut up. That was really the last time he ever heard anyone speak up about her abducting people's shirts. Then again, that could be because it was usually his that she'd steal.

Seriously, it was getting to the point that Pidge had more of Hunk's shirts than he did.

It's not really that he minded her wearing them, really. The only problem he had was that she would never return them. He didn't ever get the nerve to ask her for them back, though. Why? Because she looked so content and happy with them on and he didn't want to burst her bubble. It'd be like taking candy from a baby in his eyes.

However, as he stared down into his empty pajama drawer for a night shirt, he was really wishing she could possibly return at least one. Just one, and he'd be happy. With a sigh, Hunk slid his drawer shut and began on his way to track Pidge down and get his shirt back. He didn't even care which one it was. He could probably got into her room and just swipe one, but last time he was in there he almost stepped on a weapon she was rewiring which almost got him murdered by a very angry paladin.

Maybe she wouldn't have murdered him but the thought scared him enough to not step foot in there without permission again. 

Or just, ya know... Never go in there again, ever.

He decided that she was most likely in with her lion, or at least by it, so he went in that direction. They all were beginning to get pretty attached to their space lions. Hunk's would like it when he'd sit in with her whenever he had free time and tell him stories about his family or the other paladins. She never spoke to him, being a lion and all, but he knew she liked it. He wasn't sure how he knew, but he knew.

He thought about his lion for a bit until he reached where he supposed Pidge to be. He was incredibly relieved once he got there and saw the small girl curled up in a ball on one of her lion's front paws, sound asleep. He couldn't help but notice that she was, in fact, wearing his night shirt. 

He groaned.

Yes, he wanted to wear that to bed. 

Yes, he came all this way to get it so he could wear it to bed. 

Yes, he was sure shed be wearing it. 

No, he was not going to wake her up to get it back.

With slumped shoulders and a frown, the yellow paladin made his way over to where Pidge lay. Even if she did steal all his shirts, he wasn't going to let her sleep there for the night (her lion may have wanted her to). It definitely wouldn't feel nice in the morning. So he walked over to her and with a little difficulty (the lion's foot was pretty high up, dang it) got her to slide off the paw and into his arms. Though, it was more or less him was holding her much like a parent would a toddler.

It was where she fell and he wasn't going to move her. He wasn't gonna risk waking her up with just moving her to a perhaps more comfortable position after getting her off the lion without waking her.

With a wave to the green lion, Hunk started toward their rooms. It wasn't too much longer when Pidge woke up. 

"What's happenin'?" she asked groggily a few moments after shifting around silently in Hunk's arms.

He smiled at how tired she sounded. He'd get on her about staying up too late tomorrow. "I'm taking you back to your room. You fell asleep on Green's paw." he didn't get a reply, making him think that she had fallen back asleep. He didn't really mind. She obviously needed the sleep, anyways.

As they turned down the hallway to their rooms, he heard a sigh from the girl on his shoulder. Somehow she had wiggled herself so that she was pretty much sitting on it and he was just holding her legs to keep her from falling. She didn't say anything till they reached her door.

"Thank you." Pidge mumbled as she slid, with his help, from Hunk's shoulder to the floor. She was a lot more awake now, he noticed, as she stood in front of him. He almost laughed at how small she looked in his shirt, though. The collar of the shirt was going from her neck to just above the curve of her shoulder and the sleeves were dragging on the floor. As the tiny girl reached up to rub her eye, Hunk could have cooed at how cute she looked.

She was just like a little doll. 

"No problem, shorty." He smiled brightly at her. The name received a whack in the arm with the sleeve of the shirt she was wearing.

"Don't tempt me, mister. I could strangle you with these!" she held up her arms to show him about a foot of loose material from the sleeves hanging off her arms. They were too small to fit in place of Hunk's massive ones and it was easy to see that.

They both laughed at that. "No, seriously. It's no problem. I'm pretty sure Lance is keeping tallies over who finds you and carries you to bed so I guess it's good that I found you?" he asked more than said. "I mean, I do need more tallies..." she rolled her eyes at him, but she was smiling.

"Glad you guys made my sleeping locations a game."

"Actually, it's not your locations that are a game, but I'm pretty sure we can get one going for those." she gave him a quirked eyebrow in reply. "Or not. I'm not the one keeping a chart or anything." she quirked her eyebrow again. "Okay, maybe I heard Lance mentioning it..." he trailed off with an awkward chuckle.

The green paladin shook her head at her friend's behavior. "I don't really care, Hunk. I'm tired though. So, I'm gonna hit the hay and see you in the morning. Goodnight." she smiled at him and turned her heel, heading to her room. Hunk was about to go do the same when he noticed that he was still wearing his day clothes. 

"Pidge!" at her jump, he quietly apologized. "Didn't mean to scare you."

"What is it?" she asked as she turned to face him.

"Well, I, uh," he fumbled over his words as he wrung his hands in front of him, looking more nervous than a teenager on their first date.

"Hunk, seriously. What is it? I'm not gonna open my door to a training bot or anything, am I?" the girl's eyes narrowed suspiciously and she took a step back from her door, looking like she was about to get into a defensive position.

"What? Oh, no." he shook his head. "Uh, well, you see, it's funny really—" he cut himself off at the pointed look she gave him. Very quickly, he mumbled out, "I need a pajama shirt and you have all of mine."

Pidge was silent for a moment, processing what he had just said. Her eyes went wide and she disappeared into her room a second later. Hunk sighed then went to leave, thinking that she just didn't want to give him his shirt back. Who could blame her? She looked pretty comfy in it...

So it was his turn to jump when the door opened back up and a ball of a few of his shirts hit him straight in the face.

"Sorry! For hitting you. Amc for taking so many of your shirts. I didn't realize I had that many, really." Pidge stood in the doorway, shifting from one foot to the other while looking incredibly sheepish. She was still wearing his one shirt, though. And really? He didn't have a problem with it, not at all. "Sorry."

He chuckled at her. "It's alright. So, see you in the morning?" she nodded at him, shooting him a quick smile then disappearing behind her door again.

He fell asleep with his own night shirt on as well as a smile. Oh, and a new story to tell Yellow, too.

•••

The next morning the two were walking together as they were on their way to breakfast with the rest of the crew. Pidge was wearing her own shirt and Hunk was wearing his. They talked about how their lions were, about what new Galra technology they had decoded, Shay, and as they neared the dinning room, Hunk asked a question he'd always wondered about. 

"Hey, Pidge?"

"Yes?" 

"Why do you steal my shirts all the time?"

"They're soft."


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a prompt and I was honestly going to write it, but as I was trying to think up a title for the chapter, this came to mind and I couldn't shake it off. I love the idea of Coran being the therapist of the group and based on little bits we see in the show I don't think it's just a headcanon. So here. Hope you enjoy and have a blessed day!

Time Frame: Between episodes 9 and 10

Spoilers: Up till the finale

Disclaimer: I don't own Voltron: Legendary Defender

•••

Family is knowing how to help, even when you don't want any

•••

He hated it.

Yeah, his arm was pretty handy at times, but he hated it.

He hated that it was made by the enemy. He hated that it was able to move like his real arm. He hated that it was silver and black. He hated that he can't remember how he got it. He hated that he doesn't know how he even knows how to operate it. And most importantly, he hated that he couldn't get it off.

It was always there. Always reminding him that something bad had happened to him. Taunting him, because he doesn't remember what terrible thing had happened. Was it just an experiment? Was he just used as a testing rat? Or was he injured in a battle? Was it because they needed to keep their champion alive, meaning they had to give him a new arm? Which wound up being for their greater good? 

Shiro groaned silently on his bed, slinging his flesh arm over his eyes. Another thing he didn't like about his arm, it kept him up when he was supposed to be resting. Granted, sleep was already difficult to acheive with the task the group is going to pull off tomorrow, so with his mind deciding now would be a good time to remind him of his imperfections, that was like a cherry on Galra-served sundae.

He wasn't even sure if tomorrow would go well. Or was it today? Did time revolving around the sun even count when you're this far away from it? Who knew; Shiro certainly didn't. But really, would tomorrow be a success? They were only going to be tapping into Sendak's memories, but what about the information they'd find? Would they go fight? He didn't have a bayard if they needed to fight one-on-one, and he truly didn't want to use his arm as a weapon. 

The black paladin rubbed his hand across his face then sat up in his bed, toes just resting on the floor, ready to jump if needed. 

That was another thing—

Shiro shook his head, willing the terrible thoughts to disappear. Maybe with enough hope, they will. At least, that's what he's trying to tell himself.

Slowly, he got up off of his bed and began to get dressed for the day. It was obvious he wasn't going to get any peaceful sleep tonight and he wasn't going to lie in bed and let the Galra win. It was a battle in his head, not out on the battlefield, but the loss would mean just as much as if it were. 

Shiro knew it was still too early for anyone else to be up as he walked on towards the bridge of the ship. He wasn't too sure what he'd do when he got there, except perhaps be ready for when everyone else did eventually wake up, but he was going there anyways. He had only carted the other paladins to their rooms a couple of hours ago, so odds are no one would be awake for at least another full hour. 

Not that he minded; he didn't want anyone to know the reason he was up. It wasn't that he was afraid of their reactions or that he thought they'd think differently of him, but... what kind of leader hates a part of his own body?

The young man bit back a none too pleasant reaction. He wasn't going to let the Galra get to him. He had a universe to defend, people to help, and a family that needed a leader. 

His family.

That's what kept him going when the thoughts would get too much. That there were four teenagers, too young to be thrown into a 10,000 year war, a princess that had lost everything she'd ever known, and a soldier that had lost just as much. They needed a person to hold them up. He was the chosen for the job. It didn't matter that he didn't think he was the right choice, they did, and they needed him.

His mirage of jumbled thoughts were cut off as he neared his desired location. Someone was awake.

Shiro slowed his steps as he approached. Though he was pretty certain it wasn't an enemy (considering the crew had done a sweep before lights out was called), he was still going to be cautious. It didn't really surprise him, though they should still have been asleep. The teens and the Alteans were quite restless about the events to take place the next day. He was fairly certain that Coran had to carry Allura back to her bed since she was so stuck on staying up.

But than again, it could also be a threat in the bridge, trying to get information about Voltron or—

The young man's thoughts suddenly stopped as he entered the room. His eyes widened considerably and he couldn't help it that his eyebrows shot up to the point he'd have to pull them away from his hairline. 

All the lights were off and the map was lit up, showing their position in the midst of planets, stars, and the like. And standing in the middle was Coran.

That, actually, was quiet surprising. 

He expected Princess Allura, or maybe Keith, or even Lance. In fact, he'd thought of everyone except for Coran to be here.

The black paladin cleared his throat, trying to announce his arrival without scaring the royal advisor. The said advisor did whirl around quickly, obviously shocked, but at least he didn't scream.

"Oh, Shiro! What's gotten you up so early? Really that eager to try to crack into Sendak's memories?" Coran smiled at him, just trying to joke around, but he didn't know how conflicted the paladin standing before him was about the possible battle to be had after they received the information that was needed. 

Shiro chuckled a bit forcefully and ducked his head, scratching at the back of his neck. Coran knew this to be a sign of human nervousness and being uncomfortable. A flash of worry washed over him as Shiro replied. 

"Well, I wouldn't necessarily call it being 'eager'." 

Coran had seen a lot in his days. He saw the beauty of his planet in their prime, he saw planets that were filled with beautiful and kind creatures, and he saw courageous paladins make the original Voltron. Unfortunately, as cruel as life would have it, he also saw his planet enter chaos, he saw those beautiful planets destroyed, and he saw the lions just before King Alfor had to put them into hiding.

He saw many things in his time, and a nervous soldier was definitely one of them.

"What's got your mind in the skies?" the red head asked after a tick of silence. He knew when you should beat around the bush and go in slowly, and he knew when to just get to the point. Right now called for the getting to the point way. 

Shiro sighed and let his shoulders slump before putting on a tired smile. "A lot. Don't worry about me, I'll be fine in no time." he brushed off Coran's concern easily with those few words.

With a sigh of his own, the Altean went back to what he was doing before Shiro arrived. The black paladin made his way over to where Coran stood, watching the map move all about as he swiped or from one way to another. The silence didn't last too long.

"You know," Coran began as he shut off the map, causing most of the light in the room to go away with it, "Back in the day, my comrades and I would be so nervous for a new mission that we'd sit there the night before and talk about every possibility of something going wrong. Sometimes, it got really crazy." he chuckled, a far away look entering his eye for a split second. "That way, when the mission was over and all was well, we'd just laugh about how scared we were." 

The Altean turned, completely facing Shiro, even though he couldn't really see the man in the lighting. "There's nothing wrong with fearing a battle, Shiro." He said as he placed his hand on his shoulder, giving it a small and reassuring pat.

The young man smiled at him, thankful for his compassion and desire to help, though he didn't know what was going through the paladin's mind. 

"I'm not really nervous about Sendak. I... I have another thing on my mind, but it's nothing worth attention." Shiro smiled softly, trying to let the other know that this wasn't really something he wanted to talk about. Thankfully, Coran got the message.

"Ah! Alright then. In that case, why don't we head down to the kitchen? Nothing wrong with a late night snack, eh?" Coran winked, trying to ease Shiro's mind. He was hurting because of something, and talking wasn't something that he wants to do. Coran had another plan, however. One that had yet to fail. 

Shiro didn't know this, of course, as he nodded and followed he Altean to the kitchen.

•••

They were quiet the whole way there, not saying a single thing. He knew it to be unlikely, but Coran was hoping that perhaps the walk would get Shiro to open up, if only by a little. The Altean rolled his eyes as he got out a plate for himself and Shiro, passing one to the man behind him. Humans were such stubborn creatures.

They continued on in silence, save for the thanks Shiro had offered up after Coran gave him his plate, as they got their food and took their seats. Pushing was getting to get him anywhere, he knew that, so Coran didn't try to force a conversation. He knew that Shiro would talk to him and they could probably have a nice chat, but it wouldn't get Shiro to talk about this struggles. That was the key to this whole ordeal, anyhow.

About hallway through his meal, Coran took note of how Shiro would keep glancing at his replaced arm. He didn't have a foul look on his face, or even that of pride. Truly, there was no emotion at all when he'd look at it. Of course, the advisor knew that this was nothing new. Shiro was indeed still recovering from being a prisoner and trying to figure out how to live life with his new body. Most likely just as any other wounded soldier, trying to forget the dreaded memories attached (literally) to them. 

As the thought crossed his mind, he could have plucked himself. 

They had been so busy with trying to get Voltron formed, to saving the Balmera, to dealing with the bad crystal, that everyone must have forgotten that Shiro was just only recently freed from the Galra. He was still struggling with his lack of memories, the pain of the ones he did have, and not to mention: his arm.

Now, the tricky part. How to get Shiro to open up about it without making him too distressing to him?

"Say," Coran wasn't at all sure how this would go, but he was going to try, "you never did tell me what woke you up. Or, perhaps, kept you up. Hunk wasn't snoring too loud again, was he? I had made his room extra sound proof to prevent that from happening once more." this earned him a chuckle. 

He counted that a point. 

"No, no one woke or kept me from sleeping." Shiro shook his head, though a dark glint entered his eye. He said no more, opting to continue eating the green goop on his plate. That wasn't it's name, but it was what the other paladins called it. Coran might as well jump aboard that space craft as well. Shiro wasn't looking at him, either. But he knew better to not take offense to that.

Though nothing was said for a while, Coran was aware a door had been opened. If anything, whether Shiro wanted to tell him or not, at least the paladin knew that the he cared. And that was the plan; a meal and a open door. Food was always the way to the heart, right? Shiro hadn't laid out all of his struggles, far from it. But at least the black paladin knew that he was available whenever Shiro was ready to talk.

Just as he was finishing up his goop, Shiro spoke. "Thank you, Coran." he looked up from his food to the other man, a genuine smile on his face. "I'm not ready to tell you about my issues, mainly because I don't know them all myself. But this helped." he nodded graciously and Coran returned the gesture. 

"You're quite welcome, dear paladin. Now we best be getting ready for the others, they should be rising soon. But I tell you this, there really is nothing like a good bit of green goop for the soul." he had meant that seriously, so he wasn't quite sure why Shiro laughed in response. Apparently, he had noticed the advisor's confusion and pulled himself together. 

Everyone was to be getting up soon and they had important things to do today. Though it would be a nice story to explain to him what chicken soup was, it was a story for another time.

"I wouldn't say nothing, but I'll tell you more about that later."


	15. Still Kids

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: So, this one might be the last for a bit. I'm going to my mom's during the weeks now and she doesn't have Internet. On the weekends when I do have internet, I have a lot of church related activities I'm involved in. It doesn't leave me a whole lot of time to write one shots. But! While I'm away I'm gonna to be working on a prompt that I received, but I'm gonna turn it into a charter story. And also Shallura week in coming up, so I might work on that. If God allows it, that's my plan! Hope y'all enjoy and have a blessed day!

Time Frame: Somewhere between episode 6 and the finale

Spoilers: Up to episode 8

Disclaimer: I don't own Voltron: Legendary Defender

•••

Family is doing your best to make sure they all feel included, even if it's difficult to do so

•••

Standing in the doorway of the family room, Keith wasn't completely sure what he'd just walked in on. 

He had been in training, really just trying to waste some time before they reached their next mission. Shiro had found him and threw him out, claiming that he 'needed to rest at least sometimes' despite the facts that Keith had argued that he did rest.

When he slept.

Shiro didn't like that answer. The black paladin had told him to go hang out with his lion or the other members of the team, smiling like he had some sort of secret when he said the latter. Princess Allura and Coran were apparently working on fixing some part of the castle ship, something to do with the shield, and Shiro was on his way to go help some when he found Keith. That confused the red paladin, since he wasn't quite sure how Shiro would be able to help considering that either Pidge or Hunk would be able to be of more assistance in this matter. Shiro was mainly a pilot and leader, not really a mechanic or technician. 

However, as Keith stood in front of the rest of the paladins, he was pretty sure why Shiro didn't want to be here.

"You shall never defeat me, you wretched creature!" Lance shouted with a horrible accent, hitting Hunk over the head with a rather large pillow.

The room had what seemed to be every single pillow, blanket, and soft-looking object on the entire ship in the center of the room. The table and couches had been pushed against the wall, out of the way. And right in the middle of all the fluffiness stood his teammates. 

To Keith, they all looked absolutely absurd. Each had two pillows each tied around their chest and back with a blanket and pillow cases wrapped around their legs and arms like it was armor. Each were holding a different type of pillow like some type of weapon as they stood on a hill of pillows. 

"I beg to differ!" the large teen said in retaliation, picking the skinnier one up and throwing him over his shoulder as he laughed. Pidge took it as her queue and jumped up from where she'd been by the foot of the hill, whacking Lance in the back with her pillow as the blue paladin yelled in protest. 

"Pidge! This is my prisoner!" Hunk shouted, doing his best to protect his captured from Pidge's pillow-weapon. It didn't stop her though, except now Hunk was getting hit in the green paladin's attack.

"How dare thou!" Lance yelled, though he was laughing. "I am a knight of Voltron! You can not man-handle me in such a way as this!" 

"Whatcha gonna do about it?" Pidge taunted, jumping around the two boys, landing in hits with her weapon when she deemed it to be a good time to do so.

As they played this little game, the three didn't notice Keith standing not too far away. He was still confused. Why were they all hitting each other with pillows? Why were they all on the ground? They'd have to be the ones to do laundry; all those blankets and such are going to be filthy by the time they're done with whatever they're doing. And why were they using such feeble materials as armor when they had real, well-built armor just up in the hanger? 

He didn't understand these people.

The teenager shook his head and went to leave, supposing that maybe Red would be better company than these... kids. Even if he wasn't quite sure how to interact with her just yet. But hey, have to start somewhere, right?

He hardly took two steps when a voice called his name.

"Keith! Come on! We could use you!" Pidge yelled as if he was on the other side of the castle. Keith had to hold back a wince at her loud voice. How could something be so loud, anyway? She stumbled over the pillows, trying to get from the middle of the large pile to closer to where Keith was. 

"Careful!" Hunk warned her while still holding Lance over his shoulder. Though the blue paladin was twisting every way he could so he could see what was going on, Hunk's grip didn't loosen. 

"Keith! Buddy! Help me out here, would ya?" Lance hollered from his position, not having the strength to be able to get out of Hunk's grip. Lance may be flexible and all, but he still couldn't beat the yellow paladin's strength.

Keith just stood still, watching as Pidge made her way over to him. Her short hair was a mess and her cheeks were red, but she still looked incredibly happy. "So? You wanna play with us or what?" she asked once she was close enough to him. Behind her, Hunk was looking at him with a hopeful expression while Lance complained about not being able to see. 

His lips went in a straight line as he tried to think of some sort of excuse. He had no clue what they were doing, playing or whatever, but he didn't really want to say that. Luckily for him, Pidge seemed to get this without him saying anything. 

She turned to look at Hunk and it was like they had a silent, five-second conversation. When she faced Keith again, she was smiling a little gentler but her eyes seemed to be a bit brighter. She nodded her head toward where the boys were, as if asking him again if he wanted to join. And in that second, he knew he was going to regret what decision he had made. 

He followed her.

When he had watched Pidge stumble and trip over the pillows, he thought that it was just because she was a klutz. As he now walked where Pidge once walked, he realized that it was much more difficult than it seemed. The pillow flooring came to his knees and it was like quicksand with how it held on if he didn't move quickly enough. In his head, he gave the small paladin a pat on the back for being able to get through it without falling down or sinking.

Once they two had fought their way to where Hunk and Lance were, Hunk's grin was so large it looked like it might actually hurt him. Lance took advantage of the fact that Hunk was preoccupied with being nice by wiggling his way out of the large teen's arm. He didn't completely think it through, however, and fell right on his back behind the yellow paladin.

Hunk and Pidge cracked up, which was expected, but surprisingly, Keith did too. 

Lance looked shell-shocked for a moment before laughing along with them all.

"Okay, so," Lance spoke as he stood after the laughter had died down a bit, "Since Keith is now with us, I'm thinking we outta play a team game. What do you say? Arms of Voltron against the Legs?" He looked around the the others, smile broad and hopeful.

"Yeah! That sounds really fun!" Hunk nodded eagerly. Pidge did, as well. Keith looked... a little less sure, but he was fighting a smile. Lance took note of this.

"First, we've gotta teach Keith the ropes of this important game." Lance said in his smooth-taller voice, coming around to stand by his side. He then noticed Keith's outfit and gasped as if someone just told him the worst news imaginable. "And armor! He has no armor! How could we forget armor?!" 

Instantly, Pidge darted one way and Hunk the other to grab the supplies they'd need. Keith looked a little panicked at first, but his attention to the two were drawn away when Lance put a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worr. We've got you, dude. You're gonna love this."

•••

"Shiro, I truly don't see why this is such an important thing to look at when Coran is all by himself trying to run all the tests for our shield." Princess Allura spoke with a hint of disapproval in her voice. Shiro merely offered a smile in return, keeping quite. The woman huffed at this. "Honestly, I must—"

She was cut off when Shiro put a finger to his lips. He hadn't really thought that through, because the princess' face went from displeasure to confusion. Mentally, he scolded himself for not remembering that Allura and Coran still had practically no clue about humans or what it was they did. 

"Trust me, this is good." with a longsuffering sigh, but also with a small smile, Allura nodded and continued to follow him until he stopped right before the entrance of a room. 

Before she could say anything, Shiro beat her to it. "Stay quiet; come here." obediently, she followed his instructions and crept closer to the doorway, silent as ever. She could have awed at the sight, had she not been told to be quiet. She looked up at Shiro with a large grin only to find him looking forward, a soft and proud smile on his face.

Before them was almost the exact same thing Keith has seen when he came to the room. Except, along with the three pillow and blanket clad warriors, was another. He didn't seem to know really what he was doing, but he was smiling and laughing as they all ran around on the giant hill. 

Keith may not know how to interact with many people his age, or get many jokes, or know what games people play that wasn't a sort of test. But if someone was willing to help him, he was willing to learn.

Shiro smiled at the sight of all his teammates, just running around and being kids. And in that second he was many things; happy, grateful, excited, but mainly proud. 

Proud that this group of kids, all thrown together by chance and tossed into a universe at war, we're still able to hang onto their innocence and help others do so, too. 

Glancing down at the princess, he smiled once more that soft and proud smile. "I know you were busy, but I wanted you to see what a human family was like. They fight sometimes, they don't always get along, but at the end of the day, they all love and trust each other."

"Well," the princess gave a smile that mirrored his own, "I'm happy that I had the opportunity to see this. Even of they do look rather foolish in that get up." Shiro chuckled. 

"Yeah, they're still kids."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Find me on tumblr at ----> frostystuffs


	16. Bro, You're In It Now

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got this idea at my mom's house and was like, "Yep, that would definitely happen." So, here I am! I don't really know what's up with my schedule but I'll just upload every once and a while. Thank you all for your comments and kudos! If you'd be willing to leave a kudos if you haven't yet or leave me comment, whether it be a prompt, criticism, or anything you want, please do so! I'd appreciate it! Hope you guys enjoy and have a blessed day!

Time Frame: Between episodes 9 and 10

Spoilers: Up till episode 10

Disclaimer: I don't own Voltron: Legendary Defender

•••

Family is having an annoying member and having to deal with said annoying member is unique ways

•••

Patience.

Patience is a virtue. Patience is a key element of success. Patience is something people want others to have with them, yet they wish not to have it themselves. Patience has many different meanings to many people, but it can all boil down to this: waiting out of love.

Whether it be romantic or platonic, people have patience because they love something tied to whatever it is they're waiting for. Sometimes it's waiting for the right time to take a step into a new relationship, sometimes it's waiting for someone to get into a comfortable position, sometimes it's waiting for a loved one to get through a rough time.

Patience is putting up with things that you don't want to deal with simply out of love.

Right now, patience was lacking. 

"I'm serious! I can die, Pidge. Die. Don't you get it? Or do you no longer care about me?"

Seriously, seriously lacking. We're talking almost as endangered as bangles tigers in the wild lacking.

She had been minding her own business, wasting some time on her laptop before she needed to head over to work with Hunk on decoding some of the Galra language. He had dropped by earlier, saying that he was currently working on a certain technique that could really help them speed up the whole process.

Pidge, of course, was incredibly happy to hear that. Who wouldn't be happy to hear thatnwhen they were thousands of light years away from the only technology they knew well enough to help them figure out a language no one, except the enemy, knew? 

The yellow paladin had also brought along a new invention he had conjured up (well, not new, per say) while working in the kitchen. Hunk had been really excited about it, too. And proud of it, which, in turn, made her proud of him.

Apparently, if you mixed certain Altean food items together so that they form a paste and spread them on one side of a very thick cloth, you have, in Hunk's words, "Duct tape so strong you'd only need some of these guys to hold an entire space ship together! I think so, anyway. I mean, it did take me a long time and a lot of help to get my hand off of the table..."

Yeah, technology was her strong suit and the thing she felt most comfortable with, but she'd be lying of she said she wasn't excited over the earth-like creation.

It helped her feel a little less homesick.

Hunk must have caught onto this somehow, being that big love bug he is, and let her hold on to the duct tape with an Altean twist. He didn't acknowledge her homesick look or whatever gave him the impression she wanted to hang onto it, only told her hat she could look it over while he started on the language decoding, "Just to have some fun! I have a lot of it, you know. You can even use it for some of your stuff."

Hunk had left, then Lance came in.

In other words, Hunk had left, and whatever hope for patience she had went right on with him. 

The green paladin gave a long suffering sigh (surely not longsuffering, she was over that at least ten complaints ago), not even sparing her moaning and groaning teammate a glance. 

She didn't turn her attention away from her laptop as she replied. "You're not serious, you're not going to die, I get it completely, and yeah, you pushed me passed the 'not caring' point about thirty minutes ago."

Lance's mouth opened and closed much like a fish out of water. To be honest with herself, Pidge was incredibly surprised he hadn't started flopping around like one as well.

Shiro would not have been happy if he had just heard her thought.

"Piiiiiiidge!" the blue paladin whined, letting himself fall onto the couch melodramatically, arms flailing all around him as he did so.

Or, now to think of it, maybe he would understand her current resentment for her oh so poor baby boy.

The girl rolled her eyes. Arguing with him would just be what he wants, and she wasn't going to let him win. So she went back to tapping away at her laptop, opting to completely ignore her friend for the time being. 

That choice lasted maybe two, three at most, minutes.

"Pidge."

Within the next few moments, many things went through Pidge's intelligent mind.

One: He was next to her. Right next to her. 

Two: He said that in her ear. Her was so close that he whispered her name in her ear and it sounded like he shouted it.

Three: When did he even get there? When did he get off that couch? When did he lift a single leg? When did he get so close to her?

Then, her intelligent mind decided it would be a nice time to shut off.

"Lance!" the small girl jumped, literally jumped, in surprise. Her laptop tumbled to the ground with a clattering noise; something that made Lance cringe but went unnoticed by the panicking green paladin.

It was dead silent for just mere seconds. Then, Pidge realized what had happened.

Now it was Lance's turn to panic. 

Pidge didn't scream, or yell, or shout, or anything. She didn't make a move to attack him (he was in one of those self defense moves Keith taught him for a precaution just in case she suddenly changed her mind, though) or start throwing things at him. Her face didn't show signs of anger, or annoyance, or even sadness. Nothing; she was doing absolutely nothing. No movement, no emotion. Nothing.

Lance would claim to be the best at woo-ing any girl imaginable, but really, he couldn't be called an expert when it came to their emotions. 

That was something that always threw him off with his female family members. Sometimes, he'd be able to hit the nail on the head. He would be just what they needed, just when they needed it. Heartbreak? Lance's got this. PMS? Dude, he learned how to take care of that when he was seven. Make up malfunction? Have no fear, big bro Lance is here; with a fully packed make up kit. Hair do turned hair don't? Sit down, take a breath; he's already got the curler warming up and the spray ready. 

He knew that if a certain one was sad, what would make them happy again. If one was angry, he knew the right way to calm them down. If one was annoyed, he knew how to cool them off. 

Sure, more often than not, he's the reason they're in the bad mood, but who cares about specifics? The main point is that he made things right. That's what really matters.

Still, he wasn't perfect at it yet. Sometimes, the thing he'd try to fix would turn into a bigger issue. He never really let that get him down though, because he really did try. Really, he did.

Then there were the curve balls that he never could do well with, ever. 

Like, insecurities. No matter how many times he'd tell his lady family members that they're beautiful and perfect, they'd just scream at him and cry. He wasn't upset or angry at them for it; he knew they had their reasons that they couldn't explain nor could he completely understand. That never meant it was easier for him to deal with the girls when they got like that, it only meant he had a sort of understanding. A complicated one. More often than not, he was able to get control of the situation only by changing the subject or making them laugh. 

No home run, but at least first base. Maybe even second.

But his main curve ball, the one he always struck out on, was when the girls shut off. No emotions, tells, talking, nothing. They just... Stop working.

He didn't know how to deal with that.

So, he ran.

Which is what he's gonna do. Right now.

"S-sorry, buddy." the blue paladin chuckled nervously, standing up from his position from behind the couch. "I'm just gonna, uh, get outta your hair. You've got important stuff to do. I'll just, ya know, stop by later. Yeah, yeah. That's good, right?"

He wasn't really waiting for a reply or wanting one, for that matter. As he had rambled on, he slowly made his way towards the exit. Pidge still hadn't moved from her rim-rod straight position. 

He took that as a bittersweet sign: bitter, because he'd hurt her; sweet, she wasn't gonna kill him.

He breathed a sign of relief once he was a few inches away from the doorway, tasting the freedom.

"Actually,"

Freedom was gone just as quick as it had appeared.

"Y-yeah?" he stuttered, turning back to face Pidge with a nervous gulp. Her head was angled downwards so he couldn't see her face, but if he had....

"I'm not busy right now. We can talk."

... He'd notice that she was staring at the home-made duct tape Hunk had left behind with a smile on her face.

•••

"Hey, Pidge, Keith just told me that there was something in here I should be concerned about...?" Shiro's words drew out after 'should'. He stopped dead in his tracks, just staring at the scene in front of him.

When Keith had grabbed his attention on his way to go meet with Allura in the control room, saying that Pidge and Lance needed some of his 'leadership' abilities (the younger had used the air quotes and everything. Obviously, the other teammates had been working with him when it came to that. No way he just starting doing that on his own), he didn't think it'd be anything big. Maybe a petty argument about the boys messing with Pidge's stuff or her sarcasm hitting too hard on Lance's precious ego.

He had a few ideas, but none of them included Lance tied to a chair with a cloth stuffed in his mouth.

Unsurprisingly, Pidge was calmly sitting next to the chair typing at her laptop as if she wasn't keeping a teammate hostage. What was surprising, however, was that Lance was just sitting there. Chilling out. No commotion, no wailing, no muffled yelling. 

It was like he accepted his fate.

Pidge's head had snapped up at Shiro's voice before diving right back down to her laptop.

"Oh yeah," she gave a small chuckle. "Lance made me drop my laptop. But no worries, it's all good. It's not damaged or anything." she assured the leader with a smile. Next to her, Lance nodded.

Shiro stood there in the doorway for a moment, rather awkwardly rubbing his hands together and saying nothing. The two other paladin's paid no mind, Pidge back to her typing and Lance... He didn't really know what he was doing.

And he really didn't want to.

Just as quickly as he came in, Shiro turned his heel and walked right out.

He had to deal with them having a late-night light saber battle a few days ago. The princess can deal with this one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Follow me on tumblr at ---> frostystuffs


	17. It Was Meant To Be

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for the Kudos and comments!! I really appreciate it all. Y'all can leave prompts or requests if you like, btw. I noticed there was a lack of Keith and Hunk bonding, so... Here we go! Hope y'all enjoy and have a blessed day!

Time Frame: Between episodes 5 and 6

Spoilers: Up till episode 7

Disclaimer: I don't own Voltron: Legendary Defender

•••

Family is not knowing how to be a part of it, but doing their best anyway

•••

Things were crazy.

Just a week or so ago, Hunk was a normal cadet at the Garrison studying engineering. He came from a normal family, grew up in a normal home, had normal friends. 

Now?

Now he was a 'paladin' of a yellow robot lion that flew with four other large robot lions to form this giant, transformer-type dude that took down huge evil aliens. They were thousands and thousands of light years away from earth, living in a flying castle-ship with two endangered aliens, and his best friend was in a healing pod-thingy because this lunatic of a cat-guy tried to blow him up with a copy of his other friend's robot. All that happened while he was with the crazy, red-headed endangered alien on this living planet with rock people on it to get a crystal that would make the castle-ship work.

Yeah, things were crazy.

The large teen sighed as he let his feet carry him away from he healing chambers. He probably shouldn't just sit there and mope about how his life was a mess. It didn't help that he missed home like crazy, either. 

How was his family? What about the school? Did Iverson alert his, Lance's, and Pidge's family about them going missing? How was his family? What about the thing Shiro crashed on earth in? Are they running tests? Are the people on earth even trying to find them, or are they totally okay with three teens being missing? How was his family?

Hunk shook his head. Those were only the tip of the iceberg of his many thoughts right now, but he wasn't going to dwell on them too much. He'd usually be right for panicking and throwing a fit, but he had to be strong. His team needed him, the Balmera needed him, Shay needed him... And even of they didn't know about this 10,000 year-long war with the Galra, his family needed him to stay strong and be the paladin they needed him to be, and protect them.

He was going to do that. Not at all for himself, but for everyone else who was depending on him.

During his mental motivational speech, his feet had carried him to the training deck. This made him pretty confused, seeing as that he hardly ever wanted to train. Plus, there shouldn't be anyone in here. Allura had commanded they all get rest from the fight against Sendak and his posse, and they all knew better than to go against the princess' orders―

A clang rang out in the room ahead of him.

So, someone was in there.

Hunk took a few steps forward, just barely peeking his head in enough to catch a glimpse of who would be facing the woman's wrath as soon as she found out they rebelled against her.

He wasn't too surprised to see Keith, bayard in hand, fighting against a training robot. The red paladin looked pretty dedicated from where Hunk was standing; as if nothing else mattered in the world except for that bot in front of him. 

But still, Allura would definitely be angry if she found him doing this instead of resting. 

Hunk gulped. He didn't really want to bother Keith, not knowing much about the guy except that if he interrupted the dude's training, he'd be in trouble. Sure, they were together in the during the party after Lance left, but he still didn't know too much about the guy except he didn't really know how to do catch phrases and he laughed at food jokes.

Plus, what if Keith ended up getting thrown off by Hunk's voice and messed up? What if the bot hurt him? What if another one of Hunk's friends had to be put on a healing pod in one day?

The teen frowned at himself. What was with him today? He wasn't usually this... Down. Yeah, he had his moments of sadness and lost hope, but he usually had happiness to counteract the bad stuff. Did his joy take a break or something?

"Hunk?" he was brought out of his negative thoughts by Keith's voice. Hunk's attention went back to the red paladin, realizing that as he was thinking about all the possibilities of everything going wrong, he hadn't noticed Keith call off the training and walk over to him.

"H-Hey!" Hunk stuttered out, embarrassed he'd been caught pretty much eavesdropping. Keith didn't notice this, however. "What's up?"

"Just training." Keith replied shortly. His bayard went from being a sword to its original form as he set it down on a nearby table. Or desk? Or counter? Whatever it was.

"But I thought the princess told us not to do that." the large teen blurted out without thinking. Immediately, without even having to see Keith's piercing gaze, be began to back peddle. "Be-Because we needed to rest! Not like she doesn't want us to practice, obviously she does, because, ya know, she made us spend like, three whole days training and everything. She just wants us to relax―"

"I relax by training."

"Oh," Hunk's shoulders went limp and a frown made way to his face. "But, don't you ever get tired?" 

"I'll rest when I'm dead."

"How did you even survive in that shack?" the yellow paladin mentally cursed himself. He really didn't have a lot of control over his thoughts or mouth today, apparently. 

"What do you mean by that?" Keith asked, eyes narrow and posture showing to be that of someone who'd just been gravely insulted. 

"Nothing!" Hunk replied quickly. "I mean, you are always training. Or messing with your knife, but that's not really what matters right now. I mean, how were you able to live in a shack all alone for a whole year with no one around? No one, or nothing, to spar with?" 

Keith was quiet for a couple ticks, and with each passing moment Hunk was sure his heartbeat was getting to the point where it would be so loud that even Lance would be able to hear it from the healing pod.

"I spent a lot of time tracking down the Blue Lion and everything else that was linked to it." Keith's replies, Hunk was finding, we short and to the point. 

"That kept you pretty busy, huh?" the yellow paladin asked, trying to get a conversation going. Now that he wasn't training and things were relatively calm for the moment, he was gonna take this opportunity to get to know his teammate a little better.

"Yes." was the reply he got. Hunk had to bite his tongue to keep from groaning.

"What about―"

"Hunk," Keith cut him off. "Are you really down here for a reason or are you trying to busy yourself until Lance gets out of the healing pod?"

Okay. So, that shocked him. 

Hunk knew Keith wasn't a robot or anything, he had emotions. His arguing and competitions with Lance was enough to cement that right there. But still, he wasn't too good when it came to noticing other's emotions or issues.

Maybe they were rubbing off on him.

Hunk was silent for a while, mind going crazy. Keith stood there rather patiently, if you'd ask Hunk, not saying anything or walking away from him. 

Which made Hunk even more shocked and now, even confused.

"I don't..." the yellow paladin sighed, letting his guard fall. He didn't start crying or yelling, like he was sure he thought he would. He was just too tired for that. Instead, his body relaxed and he stopped trying to hide his discomfort. At least for right now, anyways. "I don't really know what I'm doing. Wandering around, mostly. Everything's so messed up." he began to rub his temples, trying to keep away the headache he knew was going to show up.

"Maybe you should sit?" Keith asked hesitantly. Ah, there was the Keith Hunk was used (as used as he can be for knowing the dude for like, a week) to. Wordlessly, the two sat down against the wall of the training room. Neither said a thing for the longest time, but it didn't really matter. Just the silence, and the company, seemed to be enough for the moment.

"Want to talk about it?" the red paladin was the one to break the silence. Hunk didn't reply instantly, trying to think whether or not he really did want to talk about it. 

Even if he did, would Keith be the right person to talk to? Shiro was a good listener, even if Hunk did have to be careful with what he said so he didn't trigger him or anything. The Princess would definitely be a good listener. She is always there when the paladins need her, and if one needed to vent? Yeah, she'd be there. Coran was a pretty great great listener, too. He's been through a lot and knew how to help out. He'd probably have the right thing, at the right time kinda thing going on with him.

But, right now, Keith was here and he was willing to lend an ear.

"Yeah." the young teen took a deep breath, then let loose. All his worries about his family on earth, his worries about what the garrison was doing with the thing Shiro crashed in, his worries about Shay and her family, about how he feels like he needs to be strong for everyone when he really doesn't feel like he can, and everything else that was bothering him.

Keith sat there, quietly, but his presence was enough for Hunk. He listened carefully, tucking each thing his teammate said away in his mind, not letting himself forget his friend's pain or suffering. Possibly, he'd be able to help sometime in the future with this information.

Maybe he wasn't the greatest with feelings, and maybe he acted out when he shouldn't. He's still learning how to be more than just a pilot, or a fighter, but also a friend. He's not ready to go and tell his whole life story, or cry in front of them all. But listening? He could do that. He could be that kind of friend.

•••

The princess smiled from her spot at the observation deck looking over the training room. She knew Keith wouldn't listen to her, so she went to the observation deck to watch him. She wasn't going to go straight for being angry about him training when she wanted them to relax. Yes, she'd very much like to do that, but as her father taught her: everyone deals with everything in different ways. If training was Keith's, she'd let him.

She wasn't going to let him train himself into exhaustion, however. That's the main reason as to why she followed him. She would have to put her foot down if he got to the point of getting ill yet showed not signs of stopping the exercise. 

Luckily, Hunk had shown up. And what happened after that was something she'd remember for all her life, and hold close to her heart.

She never had siblings, and she didn't really know how humans worked, but all she did know was that these people she now calls paladins were destined to be together. They don't always get along, they don't always agree. But when it came down to it, they all loved each other, even of they don't truly know that yet. They still had a ways to go, a lot of struggles to face, but she was sure they'd be able to get through this as a team.

This group of people, the paladins of Voltron... They were most definitely meant to be.


	18. A Legacy in the Making

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time Frame: Between episodes 8 and 9
> 
> Spoilers: The Whole Season
> 
> Characters: Coran, Allura
> 
> Summary: Princess Allura worries that she'll not be able to leave behind such an impact as her father had, but Coran thinks otherwise
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Voltron: Legendary Defender

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> On FFN, I've done a bit of editing to my work. Not like changing the stories up, but as far as the AN before the chapter, I've added character tags and a summary. Hopefully, I'll get around to doing it here, too. Anyways, thank you all for your kudos and comments! I truly appreciate them! Also, I hope you all enjoy this - I've noticed a lot of y'all in the fandom about how they're tired of seeing Allura as 'space mom' only so, I hope this helps some! Hope you enjoy and have a blessed day!

•••

  
_Family is helping a member have confidence when they feel inadequate, knowing that they can achieve their wildest dreams even if they can't see that at the moment_

•••

Coran knew the princess was a stubborn girl, having watched her grow up and all, but sometimes she could really surprise him.

However, as he sees her sitting in front of her father's hologram, he realizes that it's more than stubbornness; it was love. Not any ordinary love, but a lost love. The worst kind to have. She could sit here for hours and hours (he knows because she's tried) yet it would never be the same as having her father back with her, to comfort her and and give her the support she needs.

He didn't want to pull her away, truly he didn't. He knew that this comforted her and gave her the strength she needed, more than what he or any of the other paladins would be able to help her with. But she was weak, and though the emotional strength she received from being with her father was necessary, he knows that unless she rests, she won't have the physical strength to make it down here.

Coran can't help but think it's a little unfair, how the princess was thrown into this war right after seeing her home and family destroyed. The Alteans were a peaceful people, they didn't go to war enough that Allura could have known exactly how to handle the situation against the Galra. Her father had seen a lot, been in combat, and he was the one that even created the Lions. He knew his stuff, and what he was to do. The princess? No, not at all.

But, no need to make a fuss about something that can't be changed. She was doing her best, and he can tell she's putting all she has to help every person or creature she can.

"Princess," he speaks softly, not wanting to startle her. He lets his previous thoughts drift to the back of the mind, knowing that taking care of her is more important than mourning what can't be changed.

The woman didn't acknowledge him, most likely because she hadn't heard him.

"Princess," he tried again, both firmer and louder. He watched as her posture got to be stiffer, and felt a piece of his heart shatter. She didn't deserve this pain. As much as depends on him, he won't make her deal with it alone.

Seconds later the hologram was down as she was trying to get to her feet, though it was quite obvious she was having difficulties. In a flash, he was by her side and helping her up, worry all within himself and clearly on his face.

This, in turn, caused Allura to offer him a small, strained smile. He knew it was hurting her to even do that much but, stars help him, she was trying just so he wouldn't be hurting.

She was definitely her father's daughter.

"I was going to go to bed eventually, you know," she chuckles lightly, trying to lift the mood a bit. It makes Coran laugh a bit as well, though if it was because she'd actually succeeded in brightening the atmosphere or if it was forced because he didn't want her to hurt anymore, he wasn't quite sure.

"Falling asleep on the floor hardly counts as going to bed, princess," he jokes back, causing a bubble of laughter to escape her. He hopes that she never stops laughing, never stops enjoying life.

But that was rather sad thought to have at the moment. Afraid that trying to start a conversation would end up with him telling her about the thoughts that'd been on his mind that passed few days, he keeps silent as he practically carries her to her room. She doesn't protest this, or speak for the longest time. It's when they're almost at her door does she say anything.

"Coran?" she asks, voice timid. It shocks him, at first. Never had she ever spoken to him like that, not unless she done something wrong as a child or if she was afraid.

Knowing that she'd not done anything wrong, far from it, he knows that she's afraid of something. For a moment, he isn't sure he'd be able to reply to her. Knowing her fears, and knowing that how most of them revolve around her father and being the last of the Alteans, he doesn't know if he can handle knowing what fear is gripping at her heart this night.

"Yes, princess?" but he answers, because that's what he does. That's what her father wanted him to do.

"Do you think–" she takes a deep breath in the middle of her sentence, whether from nervousness or the tiring walk through the castle he isn't quite sure. He still shifts to put more of her weight upon himself, just in case. "Do you think that I will be able to make such a mark upon someone's life as my father did to mine?"

He wasn't expecting that, to be honest.

Tears, maybe; a confession of how she can't handle all that's been placed upon her, how she doesn't know what to do. Though, in a way, that's almost what she said. Reading between the lines, it is, anyhow.

He doesn't reply right away.

Instead, he all but carries her to her door then to her bed, gently placing her upon the round mattress. She didn't speak through this exchange, but practically collapsing when her body met the soft material of her bed. She was exhausted; he knew, she knew, all of the paladins knew.

As he pulled the blankets out from under her and the covered her, he still didn't speak. Really, what do you say to that? He knew how much she thought of her father, and how well, too. To her, there was no stronger person in the universe.

So, Orion help him, what was he to say to her? That yes, they'll be mighty in battle and defeat this Galra empire that has had 10,000 years of growing, strengthening? They they'll victorious no matter what, simply because they were good and the Galra were evil?

Being as old as he was, and seeing as much as he had, he knowing very right well that this was almost an impossible war to fight against. The creatures of the universe, those who'd encountered the Galra, we're far too afraid to go against them. Just with himself, the princess, and the paladins, they were vastly out numbered, out gunned, out... Everything, pretty much. Yes, they had Voltron, but there were youngsters piloting them. They knew hardly a thing about Altean technology, some of them weren't even familiar with piloting anything.

And as for the good verses evil... Well, if that were truly so, Allura wouldn't have to be asking this question because her father would still be here.

Feeling tears prickle in his eyes, he turned his face away from the princess' sight. Clearing his throat to rid it of the lump that had gathered and wiping his eyes, he took a deep breath and hoped that what he was about to say would help the hurting woman.

"Well, Allura, forgive me for answering your question with a question, but what do you suppose the Balmera's creatures think of you? You who, despite completely draining yourself out and risking your life, willingly healed their entire planet? You who put aside your crown and fine dresses, and fought instead of simply letting your paladins fight for you? You who, though you've lost your planet and your people, instead of letting that harden your heart and become bitter, gave all you could have to save this planet, and save their people?"

He took another breath, closing his eyes as the moisture began to grow once more.

"There's also the Arusians, those small people that you let into your own home to show them that you cared. How you so quickly defended them when you realized that the Galra had found their planet. And also, the paladins, dear princess. Yes, you were a bit harsh in the beginning, but it's clear for me to see that you're binding them together, and creating a bond that won't be severed just because the Galra hit it time and time again."

He opened his eyes to see the princess, tears streaming down her face and her hands clutched at her chest. Silently crying. Silently, something people would just chalk up to not feeling too bad, but he knew; he knew this was the ugliest she'd cried in a good long while (forgetting that 10,000 years sleep, even before that). She was silent because she wouldn't let anyone else hear her pain, no matter how strong it may be.

Truly, she was a princess; and honorable one at that.

In three long strides, he came to stand by her side, kneeling down beside her bed, taking one of her hands and rubbing small, hopefully comforting, circles upon it.

Coran had seen a lot, been through a lot. He knew that where good lies, evil isn't far behind. He knows that this is an almost impossible war, the paladins haven't been given enough time to learn, and the princess doesn't know exactly what's she's to do. There's much he's unsure of and much to be afraid of. But he is sure of one thing.

Princess Allura will not let the Galra win, even if she must give her life. She doesn't see it, she doesn't see the courage or compassion or strength she truly has, but he does.

Is he sure they're going to win? No, not at all. Is he sure they'll all make it out alive? No, not really. But this girl, this woman he'd watch grow up and become who she is today–she will do her best to prove all his secret, bitter, and scared thoughts wrong. That's who she is. That's who she'll always be.

"Princess, we've been doing this only for a very short time, and already you've left great impressions on two entire planets. You've gotten the Galra worried, and Zarkon is beginning to panic. Why? Not because he's encountered a minor inconvenience, but because he knows that you, with your paladins by your side, can take him down. My dear princess, I do say that the question you've asked me has already been accomplished. From the Arusians, to the people of the Balmera, to your paladins, even I. Truly, you will leave a great impact on the creatures of the universe. I know this because already, you have. Things can only get better from here."

He squeezed her hand lightly, still afraid of hurting her in her weakened state. She squeezed back, much lighter (probably from her state of tiredness as well as her lack of strength at the moment).

"Th-Thank you, C-Coran." the princess sniffled some before clearing her throat and wiping her eyes. It took her a few ticks, but soon enough, the only signs that she'd been upset was her red eyes and the tear stains on her cheeks. She was smiling; it was a small smile, but a joyous one at that. This, of course, made Coran smile.

The royal adviser stood from his position, ignoring the small pain that jumped up his ankle to his knee. He gave her hand one last squeeze before releasing it. Her eyes began to droop, and he could tell she was only a tick away from sleep.

"Rest now, princess. There's still a lot more in store for you." he spoke softly, smiling himself as he turned to walk out of the door.

Yes, things were bad. The Galra were strong, the Galra were more, the Galra were better equipped.

But still, he never claimed that this was definitely a losing war, he said almost.

And if the smile on the princess' face was anything to go by, he realized that he'd been underestimating the paladins and the princess.

Truly, Zarkon was in for a surprise.

•••

Later, after he cools down a bit after finding out that Princess Allura gave herself in order to save Shiro, he realizes that he shouldn't have been surprised. She was most definitely a compassionate woman, there's no denying it. She was also a true princess, one that gave herself for her people.

While the paladins are all fighting against many of the Galra and the princess is behind him, shouting orders, he smiles, despite himself.

Really, she doesn't realize that all she's done, all she's doing, is a legacy in the making.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Follow me on tumblr at ---> frostystuffs


End file.
